![]() ![]() Sometimes we have to tweak it depending on work schedules, etc.ĭay One-Put your plants outdoors in a shaded area for a couple hours.ĭay Two– Put your plants outdoors in a shaded area for four hours.ĭay Three-Put plants outdoors in a shaded area for two hours, and then move to a partial sun area for an additional 1-2 hours.ĭay Four-Put plants outdoors in partial sun for four hours.ĭay Six-Put plants in partial sun for 6-8 hours.ĭay Seven-Repeat Day six, but go for later in the day. Remember, this is just a guideline, so don’t feel bad if you don’t follow it exactly. Keep this in mind when starting the process, but late afternoon sun can also be appropriate. *Note: morning sun tends to be less harsh than afternoon sun. I’m not saying to let them dry out completely, but let them start to get drier than usual so their roots wants to reach out and search for water. It is highly beneficial for them to struggle just a little bit. It’s time to stop babying your seedlings! Remember how you carefully monitored the moisture while they were germinating and growing their first set of leaves? As you start the hardening off process, don’t water your seedlings as much. BUT, if you do use heat mat, you should be gradually weaning your seedlings off of them in the weeks prior to starting the harden off process. I start all my peppers indoors where it stays warm enough for them to germinate. I actually don’t use heat mats for any of my seedlings. For my seedlings I usually keep my lights on for about 12 hours a day, but gradually decrease the length of light to better match daylight hours the closer we get to transplant day. ![]() ![]() You don’t want to take away their usual light source all of a sudden. Your seedlings will still need to be brought inside (or in a greenhouse) when they are not outside hardening off, and whatever light setup you were using needs to stay the same. You want to wait until the weather looks mild and gentle so that your seedlings have an opportunity to adjust. Will there be any high winds? Rain? or cold swings? If any of these things are in the upcoming forecast, do not start hardening off your seedlings. ![]()
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