hardening off delays

[GardenRN]

I am anxiously awaiting a chance to harden off my cabbage, lettuce and broccoli. Every day here has been either cold or wind or rainy. Today would be great! 68 degrees outside, a nice close temp to inside to make for an easy start to hardening off, except for the 40mph wind gusts!!

Since these plant are more cold hardy, are they less sensitive to conditions during hardening off? Of all the areas where I "rough house" my plants, hardening off is one area where I get nervous and tend to baby things.

Let me take that back, I've never properly hardened off, and usually pay for it. And in the interest of really trying to do things right this year, I am most nervous about hardening off.

Maybe I'll just stick a few outside today and see how they do. Sacrificial cabbage? lol.

[alaskagold]

from my experience, I wouldn't put them out in the wind.

But you can put a small fan on them, set on low in an area that is a tad chiller than the rest of the house. Make sure the little fan is set as a light breeze. That helps to harden them.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Jeff,

After you finish your greenhouse, you will find it much easier to harden off. Being unheated it is basically going through some rough high low temps. I've been using a large galvanized water trough. Some plants spend transitional time in there.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/DSC01960.jpg[/img]

Speaking of rain, this is a good time to plant your transplants. Maybe not in the rain, but overcast.

Eric

[applestar]

Heh, my garden is on a smaller scale than Eric's, so I put my seedlings in tall/deep clear/translucent storage tubs when I first start hardening off. The covers -- also clear/translucent -- have clasp closures. They can be snapped closed for the night and be opened in the morning, leaving the lids on at various skewed angles to provide ventilation.... But not in 40mph winds! the tubs themselves might get blown away!!

I use bungee cords to secure the lids in open position when there is a bit of wind. Extra cold/frosty nights (especially when hardening off tomatoes), I might cover the series of tubs with their lids secured tight with floating cover or plastic sheeting or both.

They start off in semi-shady area but later are moved from patches of sun to the next. The lids come off entirely as they become adjusted to the elements and can take full sun.

[hendi_alex]

I just block the plants from most of the wind on a windy day like today, though letting a bit of the wind rustle the plants helps with the hardening process. Usually I harden my plants in a Jewel cold frame with the lid removed. But sometimes I just set a barrier on one or two sides of the plants to tame most of the wind but which lets the plants move a bit as well.

[alaskagold]

I am so jealous at this moment, looking at the recent pictures.

Double has a beatuful start! I saw a thread on Applestar's itchy gardening fingers for last year(?).

it is a balmy 25 right now, snow and ice all over. The only things I have started is green peppers and big boy tom's. If I don't start them now, I will never have them.

It is always nice to see how other people plant.

[DoubleDogFarm]

alaskagold,

This is a photo from last year, I am also currently covered by snow. 34 degrees outside and 110 degrees inside the greenhouse. Time to open a vent

Take a look. Taken two days ago.
https://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Snow%20Feb%2023rd%20%202011/

Eric

[alaskagold]

Wow... can you see the green with envy dripping off my words?!

I currectly do not have a green house yet. Just got married, just bought a house, and planning for the unique alaskan man cave aka the garage for hubby. I will be building my GH this summer, but will probably use a plastic canvas hot house for my toms, peppers and such like I have been for the last few years.

Beautiful Double! Love the ducks and the labs too.

[garden5]

I only hardened off my plants for about 1 week last year and they did fine. Although, I only did toms and peppers.

What I did was put them out for a half-day in the shade the first two days, then a full day outside, part sun part shade for a day or two. Then full sun and maybe an overnight-er on the last day or two.
Really, I've found that hardening off is not an exact science. It's just reasoning out how to gradually acclimate your plants to their surroundings.

You could put them against a wall and surround them with things to block the wind, as well. Or you could put them in a deep box with the top open.

[hendi_alex]

Depending upon growing conditions of the seedlings, plants can be anywhere from very tender to moderate to garden ready. I try to put my seedlings outside on day one, weather permitting. With those there is no hardening required, even though the plants spend nights inside and sometime miss a day or two from being outside. But if the plants are grown almost entirely under artificial lights or they have to come inside for two or three weeks due very cold weather, then the hardening process may be prolonged and take longer than just a few days. As you say, the process is quite variable, depending upon the plant and the conditions under which it was grown. Even when plants are inside, they can be hardened to an extent by simply having a fan provide some air movement.