The time has come to start planting out your little seedlings; hooray! The next 5 days of hardening off your little plants is extremely important for their survival. Check out these steps for hardening off seedlings in 5 days successfully.
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What Is Hardening Off?
Hardening off is the process of getting your little seedlings use to real UV rays, rain, and wind. When they start out in a green house, they have very little UV exposure and no wind exposure which makes them very fragile. Hardening off a plant will gradually get it use to living in a harsher environment so that it can eventually thrive outside in your garden.
What Will Happen If I Skip The Hardening Off Process?
Please DO NOT skip this process! Hardening off is very important because your seedling’s leaves have never been exposed to full UV rays before and they can easily become sunburnt.
If they burn, they will curl up and sometimes fall off. This makes photosynthesis impossible which will ultimately kill your plants completely.
What Are The Best Conditions For Hardening Off My Seedlings?
The best conditions for starting your hardening off process would be to start on an overcast day. This way you avoid them accidentally being exposed to too much UV. Ideally there would be very little wind or rain as well.
Ideally the temperature is around 10 C when you start this process.
We cannot always rely on having the perfect day show up so be prepared to create this environment with the following steps.
Step-by-Step Hardening Off in 5 Days
Time needed: 5 days
Step-by-Step Hardening Off Process in 5 Days
- Day 1
Choose a day that is around 10-15 degrees Celsius. Put your seedlings out in the shade and away from wind and rain for 1 hour. Bring them back inside to their normal location after.
If you do not have a sheltered, shady area, you can create on by placing the plants under 70% UV protected shade cloth for 1 hour. - Day 2
In the same location, place your seedlings out for 4 hours. Be sure to check that they are not exposed to any direct sunlight today. Also be carful that they have enough water. Seedlings dry out much faster outside. Bring them back inside after.
- Day 3
Leave your seedlings out for the whole day in the shaded area. Bring them in at nighttime.
If you are using shade cloth, be sure to switch to 30% shade on this day. - Day 4
Leave your seedlings out all day again but this time allow them to have partial sunlight. Be careful that they are not in direct sunlight all day but just about 2 hours in the morning when it is still cool. Bring them in at night.
You can remove the shade cloth for a couple hours if you are using this as protection for your plants. - Day 5
Leave your seedling outside all day with up to 6 hours of sunlight exposure. Try to have the exposure be in the morning when the sun isn’t as hot and aggressive on the plants. Leave them outside overnight. Be sure to check that there are not any frost warnings overnight.
- After day 5 is done…
You can now start to plant our your seedlings into the location that you want them to be for the season.
It is important to watch out for drastic temperature changes still as these are still just baby plants. Be sure to put your shade cloth or frost guard over them with any major temperature changes.
Can I Harden Off My Plants in Less Than 5 Days?
No, I would not recommend trying to do this in less than 5 days. For the most successful hardening off process, it is recommended to do this anywhere from 5-14 days. The slower and more gradual of a process you are able to do; the more successful your plants will be outside in the elements.
I have heard of a few gardeners who say that they successfully hardened off their seedlings in 3 days by just leaving them outside all day when it was overcast. They claim that this “no fuss” process worked for them. However, to be on the safe side, I wouldn’t risk killing off all of your hard work by trying this method.
What Plants Struggle With Hardening Off?
Here is a list of some plants that really have a hard time starting indoor and being hardened off. Be sure to give these plants as much time as possible and follow my guidelines to avoid damaging them.
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Squash, pumpkins, cucumber
- Lettuce
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