I read different information on how to harden off plants, ranging from “start 1 hour in shade, slowly increasing hours into dappled shade and then full-sun by day 10-14” to “dappled shade for 16 hours then fully outside in full sun by day 7-10”. Is this a good amount of sun for day 3? I was planning to increase by 1 hour every day and slowly increase the amount of light until day 10-14
by marlee_dood
7 Comments
Perfect
I think most people overestimate how careful you need to be hardening off, though it’s definitely wise to be cautious. I throw them from the grow lights to shade/dappled light for 1 day, then place them in full sun the next & just check on them every hour or so.
Up to you & how much time you have but they aren’t going to burn up from the sun in 10 minutes – if you have time to check every hour (or ~30 minutes if you’re paranoid) then do that, if you notice the leaves getting real limp & droopy then move them inside or to shade for an hour & go again. I feel like it never takes more than 2 days for my plants to be safe in full sun, though I suppose if you live somewhere closer to the equator that may be different
i have seen things about this. to much of a process. i just put out a potato planet i stared indoors. when the time came i just dug a hole and in it went. same thing I’m going to do in about two with the rest of the plants i stared indoors. I always have great harvests. Good luck
It depends on how you started them. I start in heated low tunnels with fans, and when it’s time, I turn down the heat and start opening vents to acclimate to cooler temps. When I’m acclimating my overwintered plants from the garage back outside, I start them in full shade and migrate them to full sun across 4 days or whenever I remember. I personally think 7+ days is excessive unless you had them extra cozy where wind, sun, and temperature change are all going to be stressful which is why I use fans to eliminate that unnecessary stress. If they’ve been extra cozy, start them in wind-protected full shade and start migrating them to more sun and more wind over 4-5 days. If they start reacting badly, pull em back a bit. You can also throw a cardboard box over them at night to dull cooler night temperatures. But ya, I ain’t doing that 1-3 hour stuff. I’ll do the lazier way of plant migration across my yard cos if they’re in a spot for a couple days, it’s fine. They’ll get to full sun eventually.
I think you’re fine! If you don’t have time to fully harden off for a week, I was told to choose three days of overcast and let them sit out there for 6 hours each day to harden them off in a pinch. I did my hardening off the typical way. 1 hour each day and increasing the hour by the day until it could be outside for 6 hours. The first few days though, keep them in the shade if you choose this route. My tomatoes are thriving now that frost has past in my area. Hope that helps!
Edit to add: Also, usually a week of hardening off will do the trick. 10-14 days is excessive. They really just need to be hardened off to accept a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight.
People overthink hardening off wayyyy too much. I grow 70-80 trays worth of plants every year and my schedule is just dappled shade day one, morning sun day 2, full sun day 3. Once they go outside day one, they are out there permanently and I have no issues.
Mine just went out in full sun for a bit then back in the shade for a bit and just left them out longer each time. If they wilted a little I pulled them back into the shade to recover.
After a week they all ended up full sun for most of the day no issues now.