I like to situate my seedlings on a patio table under an umbrella to shade them from the sun and shelter from rain. Begin Hardening Off Your Plants in a Sheltered Location: About a week or two before your transplant date, place your plants outdoors in a protected spot for a few hours on the first day. Take my little ones outdoors under a protected/covered area for a couple of hours to start a 7 to 14 day hardening off process. Suddenly moving plants from a stable environment to one with wide variations in temperature, light and wind can seriously weaken plants. DIRECT SOWING Turn over garden soil with spade or fork. Steps to Harden Off Your Transplants: 1. A loose soil enriched with moderate amounts of organic matter or fertilizer to supply nutrients is best. Over the next few days, gradually increase the time outdoors by a 1-2 hours. When a seedling is planted in a new growing position it experiences transplant shock. This is one of the down sides of a multi pot. B. Jan 27, 2019 - If you harden off seedlings, they'll be strong when transplanted and able to withstand full sun, light breezes, spring rains, and fluctuating temperatures. Typically, germinating seeds are killed by the damping-off fungus prior to emerging from the ground, and older, more established plants are seldom affected. Once my seedlings get a few leaves, I then leave any covers off, and they naturally "harden off" with the fluctuations in heat during the day in their covered outdoor position. Transplanting. Hardening off involves getting seedlings used to conditions outside gradually. On day 1, set your seedlings in a shady, wind-free area outdoors for about 2-3 hours. Through your own experimentation in your specific zone you'll come up with your personal technique for hardening off seedlings, but until then here's what I do: 1. For most plants, start hardening off about a week before the final frost date for your area. Hardening also means getting plants that started indoors used to the heat and humidity of the outdoors. ”Harden off” your seeds before you transplant them outside. After 5–7 days of hardening off, the seedlings will be ready to be transplanted to their final growing position. One Way to Harden Off Seedlings. The amount of damage to seedlings depends on the particular fungus, soil moisture and temperature. DO NOT OVER WATER SEEDLINGS! This typically spans about a week. I should put them in their own pots - they are getting big enough. HARDENING OFF IS KEY . Damping off occurs in many types of soil and in various climates. I'm hardening off some seedling to plant out soon, but it is still way too soon for the melons so they are just along for the ride! If you’re planting directly into the ground so that your plants’ root mass is covered by soil, this is the best way to protect your roots. 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