Saturday, April 25, 2009

hardening off seedlings



My seedlings are under those old window screens. (2 of them for today, then only one for tomorrow)
The weather is amazing.

Hardening off seedlings:
Last year was my first year growing from seed and when it came time to setting them out I had no idea what I was doing.  I thought I was going to kill them all by burning them, over watering, under watering...... what ever could happen I was sure I was going to do.

but
It's so simple.
On a day, like today, when it's hot enough, for what I have growing right now & the current temperature, I can put all of my seedlings outside.  
-Eggplant and Peppers need 60-65* to go outside
-Tomatoes I usually put out when its above 50-55*

Heres some advice:
- water in the morning & either from the bottom or above and only the soil (if the leaves/stems are wet or have water droplets on them they will fry in sun, literally!)
-place seedling trays in the shade/ partial shade for the first few times they go outside.... so lets say Day 1: seedlings out for 4 hours in shade, Day 2: seedlings out for whole day in shade, Day 3: 4 hours in sun maybe with screens over (dilute the uv rays) then the rest of the day in the shade...... and so on until the nights are warm enough for them to stay out 24/7 in complete sun.

I know it sounds crazy, but I have a schedule where I mainly work later in the day giving me time to bring them in or out for the first few days, it's also helpful to start on a weekend, like this one.