Hardening off crisis

[digitS']

Of course, when I'm talking about not leaving them for hours and hours in darkness - I mean during the daytime. In other words, plants can't be expected to do well if they've only got 3 or 4 hours of light out of every 24 hours. Indoors or out, they are using photosynthesis to grow.

Here is something from WSU Extension. I am not necessarily endorsing everything the good folks in Puyallup have to say because they have gotten me in trouble before, over there in their very different-from-my-gardens. They have used information from Johnny's Seed Company, however, and they give you an easy to look at table of temperatures: Hardening off Transplants (in Western Washington) click

Keep in mind that you are toughening them up to wind, sunshine and cold. I think the first 2 may be more important than the third - everything else being equal.

A couple hours a day may well be enough if it continues for a good long time, like 2 weeks. If there are 2 weekends when they can stay out a little longer, that's bound to help.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

Set up a fan and put a gentle breeze on your plants when they are indoors. That will strengthen them for the outdoors. That of course will not prepare them for strong winds. Putting them outdoors for a short periods of time will still help to harden them off. I use a covered porch and place them against the house to protect them from winds.

 

[jhook1997]

Here in zone 7 our weather is very unpredictable during the time when I need to be hardening off my "cold crops". I have cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and cabbage that I started several weeks ago. All are getting to the point of having several leaves but are still pretty wimpy. I started taking them out last week to harden off but only got to do it two days. It is now WINDY and too cold for that! I have a cold frame built and sort of a glass tunnel made from windows that I use when hardening and what I'm wondering is.....at what point/temp. can I just leave them outside in those? I can obviously protect them from the wind but what temp. can the cabbage and cauli withstand??? http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/8794_image.jpg

I'm in zone 6/5 and I'm coming up to the same question, same variety of plants, same cold frame situation. What would everyone recommend the minimum low temp should be for cole/brassica crops? Also for onion seedlings. My daytime temps are creeping up to 70s/80s and now I'm venting my cold frames during the middle of the day. But night time temps are still pretty low - 33 degrees inside the cold frame last night and 29 degrees the night before. I put several gallons of water in milk or vinegar containers inside the cold frames to moderate the night temps, but doesn't seem help much. Any wisdom?

I have onions in the ground since fall. They basically stayed dormant until Feb. and now they are already growing! Onions seem pretty tough to me! Sounds like your temps are about like ours are now. Do you have stuff full time in the cold frame? Are you covering it up with anything at night?

 

[MeggsyGardenGirl]

I grew some lettuce, spinach, mache and chervil in flats over the winter in my cold frames with mixed results. We had so much snow this year (almost 10 feet) that I had trouble getting out to the cold frames to vent the heat on sunny days and water/harvest. I could have used my snow shoes, but I got lazy and slothful. I did have some felt that I used to insulate on the coldest of times, but then it kept snowing and I kept getting lazier and lazier. Not much survived. I kept big pots of thyme and chives going and that's nice to have going now..

This is the first year I've grown onions so I don't really know what I'm doing. Do you plant your onions as seeds in the ground in the fall or as seedlings? I've tried sets before without success, so this year I thought I'd try seedlings, but I also ordered a bunch of Copra plant starts as insurance.

I haven't had the guts to put anything out in the cold frames yet until I see the night low temps to be at least 40-45. Daytime temps don't seem to be a problem unless I forget to open them - then the temps skyrocket and I could cook whatever is in there. I've got onions, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, broccoli raab, and turnip ready to pot on and go out into the cold frames. I generally keep my warm weather crops such as tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peppers, etc. inside until about a month later. Lettuce and Marigolds go whenever I have time and space because they are pretty forgiving.

I always start my seeds on and under a layer of vermiculite and have NEVER had damping off. I do use heat mats for sprouting and keep them under tomatoes, basil, cucumbers and peppers until it's cold frame time for them. I have four 6" fans going 24/7 inside my seedling stand in the basement. The seedlings really love the air circulation and movement and that makes them pretty sturdy and ready for hardening off and cold frame boot camp.

 

[vfem]

You can make little covers of row cover, or baskets. I direct plant most of those plants by seed this time of year.

Don't worry too much, I find the cool season crops are the easiest. I always loss tomatoes and warm season crops hardening off, those I am terrible at.

 

[jhook1997]

You can make little covers of row cover, or baskets. I direct plant most of those plants by seed this time of year.

So your broc. Cauli. Brussel, cabbage plants are outside in the garden now??? Or are you saying that you seed them outdoors now?

 

[jhook1997]

I grew some lettuce, spinach, mache and chervil in flats over the winter in my cold frames with mixed results. We had so much snow this year (almost 10 feet) that I had trouble getting out to the cold frames to vent the heat on sunny days and water/harvest. I could have used my snow shoes, but I got lazy and slothful. I did have some felt that I used to insulate on the coldest of times, but then it kept snowing and I kept getting lazier and lazier. Not much survived. I kept big pots of thyme and chives going and that's nice to have going now..

This is the first year I've grown onions so I don't really know what I'm doing. Do you plant your onions as seeds in the ground in the fall or as seedlings? I've tried sets before without success, so this year I thought I'd try seedlings, but I also ordered a bunch of Copra plant starts as insurance.

I haven't had the guts to put anything out in the cold frames yet until I see the night low temps to be at least 40-45. Daytime temps don't seem to be a problem unless I forget to open them - then the temps skyrocket and I could cook whatever is in there. I've got onions, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, broccoli raab, and turnip ready to pot on and go out into the cold frames. I generally keep my warm weather crops such as tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peppers, etc. inside until about a month later. Lettuce and Marigolds go whenever I have time and space because they are pretty forgiving.

I always start my seeds on and under a layer of vermiculite and have NEVER had damping off. I do use heat mats for sprouting and keep them under tomatoes, basil, cucumbers and peppers until it's cold frame time for them. I have four 6" fans going 24/7 inside my seedling stand in the basement. The seedlings really love the air circulation and movement and that makes them pretty sturdy and ready for hardening off and cold frame boot camp.

WOW 10 FEET !! I can't imagine! We had a whopping one inch! Maybe two.

I used onion BULBS not the tiny sets put in about......hmmmmmm......it seems I forgot to document when. LOL

Low temps 40-45......Ok that's what I was looking for. The night time temp! I'm already sick of carrying them in and out and the weather is crazy. Way cold one or two days then up in the sixties.

Mine are potted in 3" pots and looking a bit leggy. Hopefully, I can plant a little deep or repot deeper. I only have so much good space in the house and That worked last year for the ones that looked a bit straggly.

This is the first time I have experienced any "dampening off" issues. Too much water and too little circulation. I have several fans now but we heat mostly with wood. Our house is pretty toasty! Will they recover from dampening?

 

[vfem]

You can make little covers of row cover, or baskets. I direct plant most of those plants by seed this time of year.

So your broc. Cauli. Brussel, cabbage plants are outside in the garden now??? Or are you saying that you seed them outdoors now?

Actually, I direct sowed mine into the ground by seed beginning of the month. I covered with straw just to protect from frosts until they got hardy enough on their own.

I'm not sure what part of zone 7 you are though. I'm zone 7b, and we're really south on that border. This is also the coldest weather we've had in a long time, so I'm surprised all my greens are still doing great and not bothered by the weather at all. I just lost a few radish when we got down to 20 degrees at night last week. I should have added more straw that night but forgot.

I have out pak choy, cauliflower, peas, several types of lettuce, carrots, radish, kale, cabbage.... ect

 

[baymule]

Oh, I am such a BAAAAAAD plant mommy! I didn't harden mine off, just took them from the nice warm breakfast table and shop lights and stuck them in the dirt outside in the 80day/40night temps. The March winds have nearly blown their little heads off, but they are still here. If they even look a little bit wimpy, I threaten to send them to snow country and they straighten right up!

 

[digitS']

There is actually a "hardening off" that can take place inside greenhouses. Often, there is quite a bit of air movement in a greenhouse so there is that but this only has to do with temperature. Since temperature is controlled, they can lower it and toughen up the plants.

Some horticulturalists do not think it is necessary for anything but tomatoes. Really, they are taking an easy way out. Sure, they don't want dissatisfied customers but their customers are the retailers. If they lose plants (or sales because of damaged plants), that is just a business problem. And, they are mostly right, if the retailer doesn't know how to handle the plants maybe they shouldn't be in business of selling them to the public. But of course, the retailers are just trying to get the plants out the door as soon as possible before the 18 year old taking care of them kills them! Really, it is the same thinking as the commercial greenhouse - get 'em gone, & get the check to the bank!

Anyway, I have killed tomatoes moving them from a greenhouse where they never experienced cold below 60F to an unheated hoop house where it dropped to 37 the first night. Only a few of them died but many wilted and most of those were damaged. It was a seriously dumb thing for me to do.

Besides tomatoes, there are things like peppers that seem to shrivel in cold weather. Eggplants! Nothing that I grow is more cold-sensitive than an eggplant. Today was the warmest this year. None of my plants are anywhere near hardening off time but if I'd put those eggplants out in the 61 afternoon they would have acted like I'd exposed them to an open flame! When the wind picked up with gusts over 20mph - that would have been curtains for the eggplant. Later, after hardening, they can handle all that.

Steve