The Hassle Free Way to Harden Off Seedlings
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Cloudy and rainy days are usually not looked at with much excitement, but in spring when I am looking to harden off my seedlings, I look forward to a few days in a row with cloud cover. This is the easiest way to harden seedlings off and for a lazy gardener like me, I like hassle free! Check out our new clothing line! http:www.freshpickedapparel.com
30 out of 35 MIgardener seeds are 7" seedlings and looking great. Grow tent in my kitchen, wifes not happy about taking a corner of the kitchen but I'm sure she will be thanking me when it's time to harvest. 👍🌱
She sure will!
How did it go?
I feel your pain, my husband complains whenever i start my seedlings in the spare bedroom but he enjoys the produce.
I know this video is 2 years old now…
Your enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious. Never mind the practical gardening tips and tricks and advice and experience… your love for your craft is evident.
I’m well aware you have more current and quantity of content, but I just watched this upload, and wanted to leave this message. Keep at it mate. This is good stuff.
Watching this again today to refresh my memory.
Now I need a green house with a roof that opens fully. Asking hubby today, hoping to stay married 😂
I can't believe how big your tomato plants are! Nice!
Killed my confidence a bit when he walked out with those, my pathetic tomato plants are tiny and I’m getting worried they aren’t going to make it 😭
Hmm add some Trifecta, and even if they are small once you plan them they will take off
I have planted 3 inch plants that grew to be 5 foot bushes in a month. I comparison one of my local nurseries has plants much smaller than his. In fact some nurseries start sprouting some plants as soon as the fall starts. It takes a lot of quality light, warm temperatures and routine fertilizer to get them that big and I am guessing he started those in late January. For most people their Nightshade family plants will be 5 or so inches tall if started in early March with no special care like a heating pad or huge grow lights.
This is a great hardening cheat. I hate hauling plants back and forth too.
I leave snacks daily for the squirrels. This year I have a volunteer tomato plant by our tree for them and I'm planting red clovers by it. I read squirrels love eating clover.
YAY I live in the U.K., so cloudy and overcast days are no problem ! =9 =D
When I first put my plants under the lights, I have a oscillating tower fan with a timer. I set it for small increments to start with and gradually increase it to being on for a couple hours a day. This helps the plants get used to a breeze right from the get-go. I call it their strength trainer. Lol it's best to rotate the plants to so they don't get used to the breeze only being from one direction.
I use the same method and it's very effective.
What a great idea!
Brilliant 👏
I use an old screen door from a slider to give them protection. I just lean it against the building and place them under. They get wind conditioning and a little shade from direct sunlight. Works great! I picked it up cheap at the Habitat fro Humanity resale store
Thank you!!! I'm glad to know this, perfect! I'm digging out old screens now!
brilliant
34° this morning and the wind the last few days was so awful, made it feel like it was gonna snow
Blessings
So nice to have you confirm what I've been doing. I'm not crazy after all! Thanks Luke!
These plants are huge from indoor growing! Wow! We did inside winter growing in a breezeway and they are about 6 in tall. We were so surprised. We planted them in Feb. You have an outstanding green thumb! 👍
I also use a fan to get them used to breeze or softy run your hand over them.
I had this thought the other day, and wondered how well it works. Do you notice that they're noticeably tougher after using a fan?
@@kevinsippeljr9984 Be careful with fans. It can dry them out really fast. Keep the fan good distance away, on low setting, and keep an eye on them.
People can also try "winter sowing" seeds using plastic milk jugs. Drill holes in bottom. Cut in half, fill with soil, plant seeds, water, tape top back on and remove cap. Set outside in feb/March. Milk jug acts like a mini green house and seeds grow whenever they want to already acclimated to the outside conditions. It works.
Yes! It does work!!! Im doing it now! 😊
GREAT tip! I'm a new gardener and this is going to be SO valuable to me as I do seedlings throughout the growing season
Best hardening-off video ever!!! And one of the best videos you've ever made, because of the crucial details for us novices. So many other videos and websites miss the mark on the details of the WHY, how long and location; they just make assumptions that it is "common knowledge." Thanks so much for the guidance!
UV lights would solve what problem? Trying to learn and understand what you’re saying! Thank you for clarifying. I’m about to purchase the Hydro Planet grow light 24w 6500k, but now I feel like I’m missing something regarding UV, which you just mentioned.
This is the stage where I'm at now so this is perfect timing and a really good lesson for me to learn. Thank you so much!
Thank you luke i always learn so much you are my favorite gardening channel.
Gosh, every time I watch a video from you I learn something new! You are a treasure trove of information and you have tips and tricks and little known facts that go above and beyond what any other channel I follow has to offer! Thank you Luke!
What a great video! Thank you for this! I recently bought too many plug plants on ebay and tomorrow will transplant into bigger pots but also wanted to begin the hardening off for an hour or so. Overcast days also make prime transplant days. We don't want to transplant in sunny warm days. You want cloudy rainy days to transplant into the ground but hardened off! I haven't grown baby plants in a decade so it's been awhile. Thanks so much for your help! NH has been getting nice 50ish spring days but still too cold at night here. Happy gardening everyone!
Fantastic video- even for us seasoned gardeners! Thanks!!!!!
Luke you're very informative and you give your knowledge to us who is just starting off. I'm in my second year but still very much a beginner, I have a very small area, I live in London and face north that has full sun until about 2PM at the best to be able to grow fruiting plants but I have learnt so much from you. Once I've established my growing space to get the most of it I'll share pictures 🙂
Great job on starting a garden! That’s so important
I have always dragged my plants home from the nursery and plopped them on a bench under a tree - just because that was a safe spot. They usually sit for a few days in dappled sunlight for a few days before being planted. It wasn't my intention to harden them off I was just doing it inadvertently
I need to brave hardening off my plants but I am always afraid of killing them! Hopefully we can have a few more overcast days like today so I can get them out there and not worry so much! Thanks for sharing!!
Very informative video! I've been midwest gardening for 8 years now and the information in this video is accurate IMO.
You are an excellent teacher, Luke ! Thank you 😊 for this very much needed explanation!
I’m in 5b and I start my seeds inside
Ive been doing your way for years. Sometimes i am not home and a strong sun comes out and there shadow isn't enough, but that only affects a small amount of my plants. This is a great tip and i think it is actually a better way, more subtle, less shock for plants!
P.S. - You are one of the most pleasant people I've ever seen! A pleasure to watch! Thank you for these videos!
Been doing this for 10 years and I have never had this fail.
This is exactly what I needed to hear, thanks! I'll have to make use of these 3 overcast days to help "harden" my plants faster than the 1 week gradual method.
Ugh. Here in NW Ohio I spent a week hardening off our cool weather starts and I left them out overnight too early. We ended up getting some frost that night and I killed all my plants🙇♀️. We restarted and I’m hopeful with this cooler than usual spring we will get a harvest before it gets too hot. We have had the craziest spring weather the past few years.
These weather 'patterns' are resembling recognizable patterns less and less. Your poor little ones. :(
Look great tips about hardening off plants. You are right a lot of people forget about the critters and they eat their plants if they leave them on the ground unprotected. Good stuff.
Excellent advice Luke. I've been doing this for years using my covered front porch that faces east with one end having a southern exposure. It is one of the best ways I've even used for hardening off plants. I can move them from the middle of the porch early to the southern end by day three with no ill effects on the plants. Wind here can be an issue with those tender leaves too so I do what I can to ensure they are not in too strong a wind. I've even left plants out overnight a time or two with no damage because of the microclimate that porch has. Cement floor that acts as a heat sink and the southern corner of it which is several degrees warmer than the northern edge. Pretty perfect. People thought for years I had a green house. I laugh and say, nope, I just have the perfect front porch.
Thanks for sharing! I have a similar east/south facing covered cement patio as well so I’ll definitely try your simple technique!
Appreciate you freezing yourself for us, I really needed advice on this. Haven’t had much success doing this before and mucked it up. Thanks 🙏✌️🌱
Luke, thanks for the tips, especially regarding taking advantage of overcast weather. We have had a lot of cloudy weather here this spring (Rhode Island zone 6) and I was able to harden off my tomatoes and peppers no problem in about 3 days, as you suggest. I ended up moving them inside more because of cold nights rather than for the hardening off process. Also good tips about finding a place where it gets shade in the afternoon and elevating the trays.
thank you, Luke! This video was perfect timing..great info!
I’ve had a garden in Pennsylvania for over 10 years, over 200 plants including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, etc. I start them under grow lights in the basement. I have NEVER, not one time hardened off my plants. I don’t have any problems. It can be stressful on the plants, but I rarely lose any. This is very interesting! Love this channel!
how hot is it wen u take outside n is it sunny n hot?
i loose plants every year from the sun burning then my lights r not high end so sun is too much for em
Just experienced this due to wacky NC weather, 87 one day 62 the next. Frost one day then 64 at night the next. I was on day 4 & the hot clear 87 day came & voila, leaf burn. We’ll have 4 days of overcast days so hopefully I’ll be less stressed & they’ll be less stressed.
I like when I plant out with a few cloudy days in forcast to ease the plants
Thank you for this video! You saved me from accidentally hurting my plants.
Love you Luke. You have infinite patience lol. I've been hauling the plants in and out for some time.
Me too. Every nice day I've been taking them outside
If you have the available space I would recommend to grow your seedlings in a south facing window. The direct sunlight makes them much more hardy and ready for being planted outdoors.
I can confirm this. I ran out of space in my grow tent and had to move one of my tomato seedlings to a window. I don't have a South facing window, but east and west so I had to move it twice a day😅
When it came to hardening off...the one kept on by a window was not affected one bit...while all the ones from my tent almost died on the first day!
So that's why I never have any trouble whatsoever in Oregon. I have some pumpkins and cucumbers I plan to plant out on the first of June. There's not a single sunny day forecast before then.
I started hardening off yesterday and left them out all day. When I brought them in they seemed droopy but recovered. Today we have clouds and rain so I'm hoping they'll fare better in those conditions.
Thanks bro! Didn't think about the raising flats up, cool. I'm neglectful, but always have best results putting plants out during a few days of overcast too or on North side of a wall.
thank you for your tip ..is very important to know....and thank you for your time i always learned something new with you.
Yes!! Love overcast days! Thanks for the great info on this subject.
Learned about the need to harden off plants the hard way. Burned a few plants in my first attempt at gardening this year
Very neat simple yet detail video about hardening off properly without the stressors for both us and the plants. :)
Super informative Luke! I'm in Omaha and I'm lucky that my deck box (the thing that stores the patio furniture cushions) is tucked into a corner against white siding. It's the perfect "table" and allows me to start hardening off in early April. When I gardened in norther PA I'd harden off by putting my starts in a shady spot for a few weeks - takes longer but unless there is a real cold snap there is no moving them in and out.
That's the way to do it! Keep it simple :)
Ditto. And I used a Shade Net Tunnel, plus the overcast days and rain helped too.
Thank you! So helpful...this is the most challenging part of gardening for me!
So glad this popped up in the recommendations! Great information. I'm going to move my saw horse tables to the front of the house to take advantage of the afternoon shade.
I sew spinach, lettuce, chard and garlic starting in spring. In fall when temperatures are low, I put the plants under clear plastic tubs. When daytime temps are too cold, I leave them covered day and night. About February on nicer days, I open the tubs during day. I pick all but garlic the rest of spring. It takes longer to grow them, but delicious. Sometimes lettuce needs reseeded every two weeks in summer.
Glad you did this video, I thought hardening off had to do with temperature, not sunlight!
It’s both.....he should have said that.
@@frasersgirl4383 very true!🌱😊
He does. At the 5:00 mark.
Its sun, cold and wind.
They just need to toughen up !
I have shade covers, keep'em on for a week and that works well for me.
Omegawerewolfx same ! I use an old screen door from a slider. Just use it as a lean to
Hey Luke, ty as usual. Cant wait for my seeds I ordered from ur site last week. So excited.
Great advice for northern climates! 👍Here in Charlotte, we can cheat a bit though. It gets warm enough to start gardening in late Feb/early March, so they can actually go straight into that weaker sun without any issues. Sometimes I'll put them in mottled shade for a day or two, if it's later in the season or something I bought online. I made my own lights using offroad LED headlights, so it's about the same as spring sun. PS- Those white icicle radishes I bought from you are doing very well. 4" of green as of 4/15. Can't wait to taste!
Peak sun hours vary based on location, I'm in Florida and ours is 10 am to 4pm summer and others seasons is 11am to 3pm, we average 5.5 but during summer get over 6 peak hours. Just do an internet search for your area.
Great explanation! Easy to understand for a beginner gardener :)
My favorite gardener!
Will definitely be keeping this in mind for next year - made the mistake of putting my seedlings out into my greenhouse on the first super sunny day of the season..... hopefully have learned my lesson lol!
Watched this one again for the tips! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
I always learn so much from you, Luke. Thank you!
Second-year gardener and live in the Ozarks. I'm on a hilltop in the country and can get a lot of wind. I learned that windburn is a thing too. This year moving everybody has been a real hassle due to the weather (heavy storms/wind, etc), but looking for a few mild, overcast days soon! Thanks for these great tips! You are terrific.
That is exactly where I'm at. Have you come up with any solutions?
I re- watched this video yesterday to get some tips on hardening off and guess what! I have a week's worth of cloudy days in my forecast. I'll be ready for May 15th planting date.
Oh i never new that about the leaf. Thst a great tip
Learning so much from your channel. Thanks MIGardener. 🌻🌷🌻🌷
Great tip!
I wish my tomato plants looked like yours. I’m praying they bounce back 🤞🏾🙏🏾
I 've had better yields with smaller plants.
@@PRDreams Do use worm casting mine are 2 feet tall
I must have gotten extremely lucky with my batch of plants I put out in the garden this past Saturday. I planned to harden things off but well... My tomatoes grew extremely well inside in a grow tent up until they didn't. Tried babying them, but they were just getting worse so I decided to get them outside into the raised garden. They are doing so much better now. Transplanted about 20-30 plants that day along with them. Vegetables, herbs, flowers. Just about everything I had that was outgrowing my grow tent went outside. The only sign of stress I had came from my Kale. It wilted the next day in the sun but a good water at the base had them perking right back up the same day. Saturday was partly cloudy but every day since then has been clear and sunny. All the plants look so much happier outside now! Also, I use a fan in my grow tent. Helps keep mold away and I vary the speed on the fan randomly so the plants are already used to wind currents.
3 days of clouds? No problem at all in Cleveland. 3 days without clouds, now that is the hard part, haha
same here on california north coast
O-H!
@@CougheeBrosGenetics I-O
😂 I’m in PA, and thinking....”freezing in 54 degrees?”😂
No brighter here on the other side of the Lake.
This was the perfect video for today! I just put my tomatoes out to start hardening them off and had some questions. And just when I was about to google "what other seedlings should be hardened off?", you literally answered that question too. Thanks for always having such clear and useful videos.
I have learned and continue to learn so much from you. Thank you for doing what you do!
Thanks, Luke this video is right on time for me.
Great hints on how and why to harden off seedlings. Thank you. Just a couple notes: Peak sun is noon (+/- 2 hours, so 10-2 (unless time zone is messed up)). Plants get their nitrogen from the soil, not from the air, with the exception of legumes, which have nitrogen fixing bacteria in their root nodules.
You sound like a soil scientist 🤣. Are we the same human, im a soil scientist that’s why I ask.
@@GardeningInCanada Just a teacher....
I live in New Mexico where it's intense sun all day every day! We are at about 6000 feet elevation and the sun shines so intensely. This is my first season with a garden...cross your fingers for me.
Try putting some nylon window screen as a covering the first couple days out. I use plant stakes or bamboo skewers to hold the screen up off the plant.
Another great way to do it is to get them out in the sun as soon as they germinate. Once they start popping up through the dirt. I gave this a try with very good results. I do not need to harden them off at all. They have not gotten sun burnt at all. They are all ready to stay outside. I will say I did plant my plants in April. But you have to do it as soon as they pop through the dirt. Not as big as the plants you have though in the video. I also put them out on cloudy days as well.
Yes you are absolutely correct, super great results, I did that and it really works.
Am I missing something? It seems like if you could leave them out when they first popped up, you could just plant them where they are going to be growing??? Maybe the nighttime temps are still too low? Or is the soil not warm enough for them to germinate?
My front porch is the perfect place for hardening off. It gives me morning sun, like you said, then shady after 12:30/1:00. Fumbled into this knowledge last year during my novice stage. Lol.
I bought a big tomato plant but when I got it home I kept it in the house and put it out gradually. But... It developed these brown spots on the leaves. I removed those and now they are again on the lower leaves. It's still in the pot I bought it in. It's growing new leaves as suckers.
Thank you for this advice, I'm doing it right now with my tomatoes and peppers, and so far no burnt leaves! I really traumatized them last year lol
Thank you Luke. I needed to know this.
Well this is interesting.... a few days ago when I brought my heat-tolerant tomatoes out to start hardening off (my spring tomatoes are already in the ground since days here in Texas are already getting up to mid 80s), I was thinking of how the leaves were so thin and soft compared to my older plants. Then today I felt the leaves and noticed they seemed a bit firmer and thicker. Now I know why! Once outside, they don't come back in because we have SO many pest insects here, but I have a large shade tree so I leave them where they get dappled sunlight all day from the tree leaves. (this is my first year growing my plants from seed and I'm still learning) I also fully agree with the nursery hardening off! I got an Aloe Vera plant, and it got sunscald! Talk about irony, an aloe plant getting sunburn.....
Aloe vera is famous for scalding and turning brown. If you bring them inside to full shade for awhile, they usually recover and turn back to green.
You’re a fantastic teacher!
Thanks a lot! Much work and time to save there.
Yes!!! Thank you!!! Exactly the info I’ve been looking for.
I continue to learn so much from your videos. Thanks, Luke!
i put my plants on the porch and a bunch of baby quail (teens) started eating everything and they are so cute, you dont want to scare them!. Thanks luke
🎶❤️🎶🌱🎶❤️🎶 very thoroughly expressed. I appreciate your knowledge!
It is 84 degrees here in zone 10b in California.
I wish I had seen this video two weeks ago.
The cold weather plants ( Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Brussel Sprouts) I started in my Aerogarden got too big and I needed to move them out, but with this crazy weather half of them died. We are having some crazy wind and it is getting super cold. (N. NV)
I'm sooo bummed. All that hard work down the toilet. So I am transferring my other starts to soil in cardboard boxes and storage buckets. (Still too cold & windy to plant)
I am setting them out more and more each day. More shade @ start then mid range then about 8 hrs while at work in an area that the fence and house create shade.
It seems to be working. Plus the higher sides of the containers are keeping them somewhat safe from the wind. If this crazy weather keeps up much longer, I will need to break out the big guns, my grow tent and major grow lights.
Thanks for the knowledge. Many Blessings
nice info, ty. Hardening off was always my nemesis , until this year!
If you're looking for a video, maybe one on chamomile? For me, I finally had lavender germination (3 out of 30 seeds, LOL). I loved moving my plants onto my porch. It was protected but I got really lucky and lost maybe 2 out of over 500. Sounds like a lot but when you consider chives, marigolds, and other flowers or herbs, it's not.
i have never had lavender seeds germ. Resorted to buying whole plants. very happy with my 3 different varieties
Great tips also when you do plant them outside you still have to watch them because you get into a heat spell and you better cover with shade. Planted an avocado tree two years old and this year we went through a heat spell it almost withered to its death But you’re right after it recovered it’s leaves were deep green and thick thanks for your vid
Thank you--this is very informative. I'll try this next week with my tomato seedlings.
Great advise Luke. Love watching hour videos. Thanks for sharing
Yes, I use the shade to my advantage in hardening my plants.
Lukeeee! Please get some birds eye thai chili's back in stock one day ! I missed that in my haul this season. Awesome information per usual. Sending neighborly love from Michigan !
Great advice and It makes sense..
Thanks for freezing your buns off for us!!! I will be hardening off my plants in a few weeks! I hope!
I work from 9 -4 6 days a week its hard to harden plants off for me as im.gone at times to put em outside. I have made a 10x10 area with shade cloth as cover and that has helped me be able to leave em out all day and on my off day i remove shade cover for an hour in morning, afternoon, and evening. And seems to work for me in TN where the sun will bleach ur shirt in 3 days if left out.
I work 12.5 hour days. Hard for me too. I just take them out on days I'm off. Lol
@@misscandicern yeah u work a bit longer than me at ur job, but I only get 1 off day.