If you are a gardener, chances are you have heard of hardening off plants, but do you know what it means? Hardening off plants is an important step in the growing process that allows your plants to adjust to outdoor conditions. It helps ensure that your plants will be strong and healthy when transplanted outside.

importance of hardening off

Hardening off prepares the seedlings for transplanting. To secure the largest quantity, combined with the best quality, all Vegetable seedlings must be kept growing continuously from the time the seed germinates until maturity is attained, and consequently any check or shock to growth whilst transplanting must be carefully guarded against when removing the young plants from the Hot Bed, Cold Frame or Seed Box to the open ground.

Let’s take a look at how to properly harden off your plants.

What is hardening off?

Hardening off is the practice of gradually transitioning young plants from being indoors or in a greenhouse environment to the outdoors. This process usually takes place over the course of about two weeks and involves exposing your plants to increasingly longer periods of direct sunlight and windy conditions. By slowly increasing their exposure, you give them time to adapt and get used to their new environment without suffering any shock or damage.

Preparing Your Plants for Hardening Off

Before beginning the hardening-off process, there are some important steps you should take to prepare your young plants. First, make sure they are healthy and well-nourished before transplanting them outside. Check for pests and diseases, then fertilize them with a water-soluble fertilizer like fish emulsion or seaweed extract. Once they have been prepped for hardening off, acclimate them by gradually introducing them to more light each day until they can withstand several hours of direct sunlight without wilting.

Hardening off seedlings

Plants in the Hot Bed, Cold Frame, or Seed Boxes are supplied with moisture when necessary and protected from wind and cold. In the case of the Hot Bed or the Cold Frame, a week or so before transplanting increase the ventilation by opening the cover of the frame, just a little at first, and then gradually wider until the frame is left fully uncovered. Start with an hour in the middle of the day, increasing the time of exposure until the plants are quite accustomed to the atmospheric conditions out of doors, and decreasing watering so that the plant gets used to the drier conditions of the open garden or to be brief. Gradually acclimatise the plant to the local outdoor conditions under which it is to mature.

How to Harden Off Plants Safely

Once your plants have been prepared for hardening off, it’s time to start transitioning them into their new outdoor environment. Start by placing them outdoors in a shaded area during the morning hours only make sure they are not exposed to temperatures that exceed 75°F (23°C). Over the next few days, increase their exposure time by an hour or two each day until they can tolerate six hours of sun per day without wilting or becoming stressed out. After this point, they should be ready for transplanting outside.

Hardening off is essential if you want your plants’ transition from indoors/greenhouse environment into the great outdoors successful and stress-free! Preparation is key; make sure that your young plants are healthy before transplanting them outside and then gradually increase their exposure over the course of two weeks so that they can handle full sun without wilting or becoming stressed out. The result? Happy, healthy transplants.