So many a times i have problems with harding off my plants in the sun before planting. So i was wondering, if i put my plants under UV lights would it help prevent sunburn?
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lighting UV lights
- Thread starter Infinityheat
- Start date
To all that have responded to my posts on here, know I'm no expert. But from what I've read and gathered on this sight. You will always have to go threw the hardening process when going from indoor to outdoor light. Unless it's maybe a h.o. HID light. Someone can correct me if wrong. Good luck this season.
Oh and if it's something like tanning bed lights? You would have to think if it can tan skin, it could sunburn plants just as easy! Just my 2 cents.
Oh and if it's something like tanning bed lights? You would have to think if it can tan skin, it could sunburn plants just as easy! Just my 2 cents.
What is the exact issues you are having with hardening off the plants?
I don't condone being stupid but this year I just tossed all of my seedlings into the cruel world without hardening them off. They went from florescent to 500 watts of high pressure sodium to brutal high desert sun. No mercy.
They all moaned and complained. Sun scald reigned supreme in the beginning but out of 60 or 70 starts only two didn't survive the shock treatment and that might be because, impatient and unimpressed with their apparent lack of survival instincts, I pulled them up to make room for other stronger replacements. Fast forward three weeks and even the frailest and most doomed looking seedlings are now beginning to take off.
That's my anecdotal story and I'm sticking to it. Don't try this at home. I'm a haphazard grower who lives on the edge. It really is a good idea to slowly acclimate them to their new home.
And sure you can burn plants with electric lighting, but no matter how much light you throw at them it will never come close to the energy the sun is going to blast them with.
They all moaned and complained. Sun scald reigned supreme in the beginning but out of 60 or 70 starts only two didn't survive the shock treatment and that might be because, impatient and unimpressed with their apparent lack of survival instincts, I pulled them up to make room for other stronger replacements. Fast forward three weeks and even the frailest and most doomed looking seedlings are now beginning to take off.
That's my anecdotal story and I'm sticking to it. Don't try this at home. I'm a haphazard grower who lives on the edge. It really is a good idea to slowly acclimate them to their new home.
And sure you can burn plants with electric lighting, but no matter how much light you throw at them it will never come close to the energy the sun is going to blast them with.
Im rarly home when the suns out in a place i can put them:p
Same here. I had to get a cheap green house from Lowes and let them get sunlight but filtered a bit from the clear vinyl. Then, out in the flowering bed for a little tough love. Of course, here in VA, the weather was considerably milder than say desert heat!
How about building a screen using insect screen and place them underneath. The screen can provide filtered sunlight.
Ironically I think it was cool temps holding them back more than anything. March got warm towards the end of the month and we had a remarkably warm April with above average and even record breaking temps throughout so I put everything out a good 4 to 6 weeks earlier than I usually do, and naturally within a few days of planting temps took a dive with many nights in the upper 30's and low 40's. As part of my lazy do nothing strategy I made no attempts to protect them from cold weather.
Now highs are in the 80's and lows in the 50's and unsurprisingly the peppers are finally enjoying life.
I got too scared to put them put because of the 80 one day 30 the next tempatures. I jut kept everything in my greenhouse and didnt plant out till early may
...which is why your plants are probably 10x bigger than mine.
Ordinarily I take precautions and try to do things right but this year I was in the middle of relocating (both myself and my garden) and don't have infinite garden space and was honestly almost hoping for nature to make the decision for me and tell me what plants were going to have to die. As luck would have it 98% survived so now I have about 3x more pepper plants than I was planning on but after filling a lot of buckets they all have a home.
...which is why your plants are probably 10x bigger than mine.
Ordinarily I take precautions and try to do things right but this year I was in the middle of relocating (both myself and my garden) and don't have infinite garden space and was honestly almost hoping for nature to make the decision for me and tell me what plants were going to have to die. As luck would have it 98% survived so now I have about 3x more pepper plants than I was planning on but after filling a lot of buckets they all have a home.
I had 4 annum variety out about a month and a hal before the rest and there all now the same size:p
If only i had infinity space and heat:p