30 out of 35 MIgardener seeds are 7" seedlings and looking great. Grow tent in my kitchen, wifes not happy about taking a corner of the kitchen but I'm sure she will be thanking me when it's time to harvest. 👍🌱
I know this video is 2 years old now… Your enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious. Never mind the practical gardening tips and tricks and advice and experience… your love for your craft is evident. I’m well aware you have more current and quantity of content, but I just watched this upload, and wanted to leave this message. Keep at it mate. This is good stuff.
I use an old screen door from a slider to give them protection. I just lean it against the building and place them under. They get wind conditioning and a little shade from direct sunlight. Works great! I picked it up cheap at the Habitat fro Humanity resale store
Ive been doing your way for years. Sometimes i am not home and a strong sun comes out and there shadow isn't enough, but that only affects a small amount of my plants. This is a great tip and i think it is actually a better way, more subtle, less shock for plants! P.S. - You are one of the most pleasant people I've ever seen! A pleasure to watch! Thank you for these videos!
What a great video! Thank you for this! I recently bought too many plug plants on ebay and tomorrow will transplant into bigger pots but also wanted to begin the hardening off for an hour or so. Overcast days also make prime transplant days. We don't want to transplant in sunny warm days. You want cloudy rainy days to transplant into the ground but hardened off! I haven't grown baby plants in a decade so it's been awhile. Thanks so much for your help! NH has been getting nice 50ish spring days but still too cold at night here. Happy gardening everyone!
Best hardening-off video ever!!! And one of the best videos you've ever made, because of the crucial details for us novices. So many other videos and websites miss the mark on the details of the WHY, how long and location; they just make assumptions that it is "common knowledge." Thanks so much for the guidance!
UV lights would solve what problem? Trying to learn and understand what you’re saying! Thank you for clarifying. I’m about to purchase the Hydro Planet grow light 24w 6500k, but now I feel like I’m missing something regarding UV, which you just mentioned.
People can also try "winter sowing" seeds using plastic milk jugs. Drill holes in bottom. Cut in half, fill with soil, plant seeds, water, tape top back on and remove cap. Set outside in feb/March. Milk jug acts like a mini green house and seeds grow whenever they want to already acclimated to the outside conditions. It works.
I have always dragged my plants home from the nursery and plopped them on a bench under a tree - just because that was a safe spot. They usually sit for a few days in dappled sunlight for a few days before being planted. It wasn't my intention to harden them off I was just doing it inadvertently
This is exactly what I needed to hear, thanks! I'll have to make use of these 3 overcast days to help "harden" my plants faster than the 1 week gradual method.
These plants are huge from indoor growing! Wow! We did inside winter growing in a breezeway and they are about 6 in tall. We were so surprised. We planted them in Feb. You have an outstanding green thumb! 👍
I have planted 3 inch plants that grew to be 5 foot bushes in a month. I comparison one of my local nurseries has plants much smaller than his. In fact some nurseries start sprouting some plants as soon as the fall starts. It takes a lot of quality light, warm temperatures and routine fertilizer to get them that big and I am guessing he started those in late January. For most people their Nightshade family plants will be 5 or so inches tall if started in early March with no special care like a heating pad or huge grow lights.
When I first put my plants under the lights, I have a oscillating tower fan with a timer. I set it for small increments to start with and gradually increase it to being on for a couple hours a day. This helps the plants get used to a breeze right from the get-go. I call it their strength trainer. Lol it's best to rotate the plants to so they don't get used to the breeze only being from one direction.
Excellent advice Luke. I've been doing this for years using my covered front porch that faces east with one end having a southern exposure. It is one of the best ways I've even used for hardening off plants. I can move them from the middle of the porch early to the southern end by day three with no ill effects on the plants. Wind here can be an issue with those tender leaves too so I do what I can to ensure they are not in too strong a wind. I've even left plants out overnight a time or two with no damage because of the microclimate that porch has. Cement floor that acts as a heat sink and the southern corner of it which is several degrees warmer than the northern edge. Pretty perfect. People thought for years I had a green house. I laugh and say, nope, I just have the perfect front porch.
Gosh, every time I watch a video from you I learn something new! You are a treasure trove of information and you have tips and tricks and little known facts that go above and beyond what any other channel I follow has to offer! Thank you Luke!
Luke you're very informative and you give your knowledge to us who is just starting off. I'm in my second year but still very much a beginner, I have a very small area, I live in London and face north that has full sun until about 2PM at the best to be able to grow fruiting plants but I have learnt so much from you. Once I've established my growing space to get the most of it I'll share pictures 🙂
I leave snacks daily for the squirrels. This year I have a volunteer tomato plant by our tree for them and I'm planting red clovers by it. I read squirrels love eating clover.
I need to brave hardening off my plants but I am always afraid of killing them! Hopefully we can have a few more overcast days like today so I can get them out there and not worry so much! Thanks for sharing!!
If you have the available space I would recommend to grow your seedlings in a south facing window. The direct sunlight makes them much more hardy and ready for being planted outdoors.
I can confirm this. I ran out of space in my grow tent and had to move one of my tomato seedlings to a window. I don't have a South facing window, but east and west so I had to move it twice a day😅 When it came to hardening off...the one kept on by a window was not affected one bit...while all the ones from my tent almost died on the first day!
Look great tips about hardening off plants. You are right a lot of people forget about the critters and they eat their plants if they leave them on the ground unprotected. Good stuff.
Ugh. Here in NW Ohio I spent a week hardening off our cool weather starts and I left them out overnight too early. We ended up getting some frost that night and I killed all my plants🙇♀️. We restarted and I’m hopeful with this cooler than usual spring we will get a harvest before it gets too hot. We have had the craziest spring weather the past few years.
Luke, thanks for the tips, especially regarding taking advantage of overcast weather. We have had a lot of cloudy weather here this spring (Rhode Island zone 6) and I was able to harden off my tomatoes and peppers no problem in about 3 days, as you suggest. I ended up moving them inside more because of cold nights rather than for the hardening off process. Also good tips about finding a place where it gets shade in the afternoon and elevating the trays.
Just experienced this due to wacky NC weather, 87 one day 62 the next. Frost one day then 64 at night the next. I was on day 4 & the hot clear 87 day came & voila, leaf burn. We’ll have 4 days of overcast days so hopefully I’ll be less stressed & they’ll be less stressed.
I’ve had a garden in Pennsylvania for over 10 years, over 200 plants including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, etc. I start them under grow lights in the basement. I have NEVER, not one time hardened off my plants. I don’t have any problems. It can be stressful on the plants, but I rarely lose any. This is very interesting! Love this channel!
I sew spinach, lettuce, chard and garlic starting in spring. In fall when temperatures are low, I put the plants under clear plastic tubs. When daytime temps are too cold, I leave them covered day and night. About February on nicer days, I open the tubs during day. I pick all but garlic the rest of spring. It takes longer to grow them, but delicious. Sometimes lettuce needs reseeded every two weeks in summer.
So glad this popped up in the recommendations! Great information. I'm going to move my saw horse tables to the front of the house to take advantage of the afternoon shade.
i put my plants on the porch and a bunch of baby quail (teens) started eating everything and they are so cute, you dont want to scare them!. Thanks luke
So that's why I never have any trouble whatsoever in Oregon. I have some pumpkins and cucumbers I plan to plant out on the first of June. There's not a single sunny day forecast before then.
Super informative Luke! I'm in Omaha and I'm lucky that my deck box (the thing that stores the patio furniture cushions) is tucked into a corner against white siding. It's the perfect "table" and allows me to start hardening off in early April. When I gardened in norther PA I'd harden off by putting my starts in a shady spot for a few weeks - takes longer but unless there is a real cold snap there is no moving them in and out.
I started hardening off yesterday and left them out all day. When I brought them in they seemed droopy but recovered. Today we have clouds and rain so I'm hoping they'll fare better in those conditions.
Peak sun hours vary based on location, I'm in Florida and ours is 10 am to 4pm summer and others seasons is 11am to 3pm, we average 5.5 but during summer get over 6 peak hours. Just do an internet search for your area.
Second-year gardener and live in the Ozarks. I'm on a hilltop in the country and can get a lot of wind. I learned that windburn is a thing too. This year moving everybody has been a real hassle due to the weather (heavy storms/wind, etc), but looking for a few mild, overcast days soon! Thanks for these great tips! You are terrific.
Great hints on how and why to harden off seedlings. Thank you. Just a couple notes: Peak sun is noon (+/- 2 hours, so 10-2 (unless time zone is messed up)). Plants get their nitrogen from the soil, not from the air, with the exception of legumes, which have nitrogen fixing bacteria in their root nodules.
Thanks bro! Didn't think about the raising flats up, cool. I'm neglectful, but always have best results putting plants out during a few days of overcast too or on North side of a wall.
Another great way to do it is to get them out in the sun as soon as they germinate. Once they start popping up through the dirt. I gave this a try with very good results. I do not need to harden them off at all. They have not gotten sun burnt at all. They are all ready to stay outside. I will say I did plant my plants in April. But you have to do it as soon as they pop through the dirt. Not as big as the plants you have though in the video. I also put them out on cloudy days as well.
Am I missing something? It seems like if you could leave them out when they first popped up, you could just plant them where they are going to be growing??? Maybe the nighttime temps are still too low? Or is the soil not warm enough for them to germinate?
I wish I had seen this video two weeks ago. The cold weather plants ( Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Brussel Sprouts) I started in my Aerogarden got too big and I needed to move them out, but with this crazy weather half of them died. We are having some crazy wind and it is getting super cold. (N. NV) I'm sooo bummed. All that hard work down the toilet. So I am transferring my other starts to soil in cardboard boxes and storage buckets. (Still too cold & windy to plant) I am setting them out more and more each day. More shade @ start then mid range then about 8 hrs while at work in an area that the fence and house create shade. It seems to be working. Plus the higher sides of the containers are keeping them somewhat safe from the wind. If this crazy weather keeps up much longer, I will need to break out the big guns, my grow tent and major grow lights. Thanks for the knowledge. Many Blessings
I must have gotten extremely lucky with my batch of plants I put out in the garden this past Saturday. I planned to harden things off but well... My tomatoes grew extremely well inside in a grow tent up until they didn't. Tried babying them, but they were just getting worse so I decided to get them outside into the raised garden. They are doing so much better now. Transplanted about 20-30 plants that day along with them. Vegetables, herbs, flowers. Just about everything I had that was outgrowing my grow tent went outside. The only sign of stress I had came from my Kale. It wilted the next day in the sun but a good water at the base had them perking right back up the same day. Saturday was partly cloudy but every day since then has been clear and sunny. All the plants look so much happier outside now! Also, I use a fan in my grow tent. Helps keep mold away and I vary the speed on the fan randomly so the plants are already used to wind currents.
My front porch is the perfect place for hardening off. It gives me morning sun, like you said, then shady after 12:30/1:00. Fumbled into this knowledge last year during my novice stage. Lol.
This was the perfect video for today! I just put my tomatoes out to start hardening them off and had some questions. And just when I was about to google "what other seedlings should be hardened off?", you literally answered that question too. Thanks for always having such clear and useful videos.
Great advice for northern climates! 👍Here in Charlotte, we can cheat a bit though. It gets warm enough to start gardening in late Feb/early March, so they can actually go straight into that weaker sun without any issues. Sometimes I'll put them in mottled shade for a day or two, if it's later in the season or something I bought online. I made my own lights using offroad LED headlights, so it's about the same as spring sun. PS- Those white icicle radishes I bought from you are doing very well. 4" of green as of 4/15. Can't wait to taste!
Will definitely be keeping this in mind for next year - made the mistake of putting my seedlings out into my greenhouse on the first super sunny day of the season..... hopefully have learned my lesson lol!
I re- watched this video yesterday to get some tips on hardening off and guess what! I have a week's worth of cloudy days in my forecast. I'll be ready for May 15th planting date.
Great tips also when you do plant them outside you still have to watch them because you get into a heat spell and you better cover with shade. Planted an avocado tree two years old and this year we went through a heat spell it almost withered to its death But you’re right after it recovered it’s leaves were deep green and thick thanks for your vid
Well this is interesting.... a few days ago when I brought my heat-tolerant tomatoes out to start hardening off (my spring tomatoes are already in the ground since days here in Texas are already getting up to mid 80s), I was thinking of how the leaves were so thin and soft compared to my older plants. Then today I felt the leaves and noticed they seemed a bit firmer and thicker. Now I know why! Once outside, they don't come back in because we have SO many pest insects here, but I have a large shade tree so I leave them where they get dappled sunlight all day from the tree leaves. (this is my first year growing my plants from seed and I'm still learning) I also fully agree with the nursery hardening off! I got an Aloe Vera plant, and it got sunscald! Talk about irony, an aloe plant getting sunburn.....
I have a room with patio doors. I leave the door open overnight with a towel to keep mice from getting into the rest of my house. The cooler room is a good start toward gardening off. Then I bring them out to the shade then sun, covering for the hottest part of the day. Some people use the garage if its facing south
If you're looking for a video, maybe one on chamomile? For me, I finally had lavender germination (3 out of 30 seeds, LOL). I loved moving my plants onto my porch. It was protected but I got really lucky and lost maybe 2 out of over 500. Sounds like a lot but when you consider chives, marigolds, and other flowers or herbs, it's not.
I live in New Mexico where it's intense sun all day every day! We are at about 6000 feet elevation and the sun shines so intensely. This is my first season with a garden...cross your fingers for me.
Try putting some nylon window screen as a covering the first couple days out. I use plant stakes or bamboo skewers to hold the screen up off the plant.
I bought a big tomato plant but when I got it home I kept it in the house and put it out gradually. But... It developed these brown spots on the leaves. I removed those and now they are again on the lower leaves. It's still in the pot I bought it in. It's growing new leaves as suckers.
I work from 9 -4 6 days a week its hard to harden plants off for me as im.gone at times to put em outside. I have made a 10x10 area with shade cloth as cover and that has helped me be able to leave em out all day and on my off day i remove shade cover for an hour in morning, afternoon, and evening. And seems to work for me in TN where the sun will bleach ur shirt in 3 days if left out.
Another great way to help hardening off plants is to stroke them back and forth every day, before putting them out! I believe it mimics the wind and helps them to develop thicker, more protective leaves. I guess it might not help with the sun though. I find it an enjoyable process too, especially if it's tomatoes or herbs as the plants also release their beautiful aromas when stroked in that way.
Oh and I also use glass cloches and cold frames in the garden so I can vary the amount of direct sun the plants get. It's quite a hassle going in and out of my house to harden off plants. So I only take the plants out once and then they stay out, either under the cloche or in the cold frame.
Lol, I had a cat jump onto the shelf with my seedlings to enjoy the heat from the grow lights and when I uncovered them the cat began eating the kale seedlings.
I grow my seedlings right at a sunny window and bring them outside if it's not to cold outside here in northern Germany. They never showed signs of stress from the sun even if I forget them outside😅 It there a tip on flimsy/floopy seedlings? My peppers always fall over even in the slightest of wind breezes.
I have been doing it that way for over 50 years. My dad taught me, and his dad taught him etc. I do not wait for cloudy days though. Cloudy days wait for me. I am in western NY.
Set the tray outside, throw a clear rubbermaid on it for a few days. Take off during high heat in the day. That's basically all I've had to do. Oh I have 2x 1000 W HPS lights, the sun wishes it was that bright lol. Also 2x 432 W T5 set-ups, and a 400 W HPS. Put plants as close as possible with lots of air movement. I'm just worried about cold weather, not light exposure honestly, even from the T5's. I've never had sun scald before.
thanks look you are doing us great help by your tips and advice i started to grow my tomatoes from seeds n i placed them under sun later i found white leave ending it was a bad sun scald i was angry i thought i lost them but surprisingly they started to grow green leaves again so now i set a timer n follow your tips ✌️
30 out of 35 MIgardener seeds are 7" seedlings and looking great. Grow tent in my kitchen, wifes not happy about taking a corner of the kitchen but I'm sure she will be thanking me when it's time to harvest. 👍🌱
She sure will!
How did it go?
I feel your pain, my husband complains whenever i start my seedlings in the spare bedroom but he enjoys the produce.
I know this video is 2 years old now…
Your enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious. Never mind the practical gardening tips and tricks and advice and experience… your love for your craft is evident.
I’m well aware you have more current and quantity of content, but I just watched this upload, and wanted to leave this message. Keep at it mate. This is good stuff.
Watching this again today to refresh my memory.
I use an old screen door from a slider to give them protection. I just lean it against the building and place them under. They get wind conditioning and a little shade from direct sunlight. Works great! I picked it up cheap at the Habitat fro Humanity resale store
Thank you!!! I'm glad to know this, perfect! I'm digging out old screens now!
Now I need a green house with a roof that opens fully. Asking hubby today, hoping to stay married 😂
Ive been doing your way for years. Sometimes i am not home and a strong sun comes out and there shadow isn't enough, but that only affects a small amount of my plants. This is a great tip and i think it is actually a better way, more subtle, less shock for plants!
P.S. - You are one of the most pleasant people I've ever seen! A pleasure to watch! Thank you for these videos!
34° this morning and the wind the last few days was so awful, made it feel like it was gonna snow
Blessings
What a great video! Thank you for this! I recently bought too many plug plants on ebay and tomorrow will transplant into bigger pots but also wanted to begin the hardening off for an hour or so. Overcast days also make prime transplant days. We don't want to transplant in sunny warm days. You want cloudy rainy days to transplant into the ground but hardened off! I haven't grown baby plants in a decade so it's been awhile. Thanks so much for your help! NH has been getting nice 50ish spring days but still too cold at night here. Happy gardening everyone!
Best hardening-off video ever!!! And one of the best videos you've ever made, because of the crucial details for us novices. So many other videos and websites miss the mark on the details of the WHY, how long and location; they just make assumptions that it is "common knowledge." Thanks so much for the guidance!
UV lights would solve what problem? Trying to learn and understand what you’re saying! Thank you for clarifying. I’m about to purchase the Hydro Planet grow light 24w 6500k, but now I feel like I’m missing something regarding UV, which you just mentioned.
People can also try "winter sowing" seeds using plastic milk jugs. Drill holes in bottom. Cut in half, fill with soil, plant seeds, water, tape top back on and remove cap. Set outside in feb/March. Milk jug acts like a mini green house and seeds grow whenever they want to already acclimated to the outside conditions. It works.
Yes! It does work!!! Im doing it now! 😊
I have always dragged my plants home from the nursery and plopped them on a bench under a tree - just because that was a safe spot. They usually sit for a few days in dappled sunlight for a few days before being planted. It wasn't my intention to harden them off I was just doing it inadvertently
Very informative video! I've been midwest gardening for 8 years now and the information in this video is accurate IMO.
This is exactly what I needed to hear, thanks! I'll have to make use of these 3 overcast days to help "harden" my plants faster than the 1 week gradual method.
These plants are huge from indoor growing! Wow! We did inside winter growing in a breezeway and they are about 6 in tall. We were so surprised. We planted them in Feb. You have an outstanding green thumb! 👍
GREAT tip! I'm a new gardener and this is going to be SO valuable to me as I do seedlings throughout the growing season
I can't believe how big your tomato plants are! Nice!
Killed my confidence a bit when he walked out with those, my pathetic tomato plants are tiny and I’m getting worried they aren’t going to make it 😭
Hmm add some Trifecta, and even if they are small once you plan them they will take off
I have planted 3 inch plants that grew to be 5 foot bushes in a month. I comparison one of my local nurseries has plants much smaller than his. In fact some nurseries start sprouting some plants as soon as the fall starts. It takes a lot of quality light, warm temperatures and routine fertilizer to get them that big and I am guessing he started those in late January. For most people their Nightshade family plants will be 5 or so inches tall if started in early March with no special care like a heating pad or huge grow lights.
When I first put my plants under the lights, I have a oscillating tower fan with a timer. I set it for small increments to start with and gradually increase it to being on for a couple hours a day. This helps the plants get used to a breeze right from the get-go. I call it their strength trainer. Lol it's best to rotate the plants to so they don't get used to the breeze only being from one direction.
I use the same method and it's very effective.
What a great idea!
Brilliant 👏
Excellent advice Luke. I've been doing this for years using my covered front porch that faces east with one end having a southern exposure. It is one of the best ways I've even used for hardening off plants. I can move them from the middle of the porch early to the southern end by day three with no ill effects on the plants. Wind here can be an issue with those tender leaves too so I do what I can to ensure they are not in too strong a wind. I've even left plants out overnight a time or two with no damage because of the microclimate that porch has. Cement floor that acts as a heat sink and the southern corner of it which is several degrees warmer than the northern edge. Pretty perfect. People thought for years I had a green house. I laugh and say, nope, I just have the perfect front porch.
Thanks for sharing! I have a similar east/south facing covered cement patio as well so I’ll definitely try your simple technique!
Gosh, every time I watch a video from you I learn something new! You are a treasure trove of information and you have tips and tricks and little known facts that go above and beyond what any other channel I follow has to offer! Thank you Luke!
So nice to have you confirm what I've been doing. I'm not crazy after all! Thanks Luke!
This is a great hardening cheat. I hate hauling plants back and forth too.
Luke you're very informative and you give your knowledge to us who is just starting off. I'm in my second year but still very much a beginner, I have a very small area, I live in London and face north that has full sun until about 2PM at the best to be able to grow fruiting plants but I have learnt so much from you. Once I've established my growing space to get the most of it I'll share pictures 🙂
Great job on starting a garden! That’s so important
I leave snacks daily for the squirrels. This year I have a volunteer tomato plant by our tree for them and I'm planting red clovers by it. I read squirrels love eating clover.
This is the stage where I'm at now so this is perfect timing and a really good lesson for me to learn. Thank you so much!
I need to brave hardening off my plants but I am always afraid of killing them! Hopefully we can have a few more overcast days like today so I can get them out there and not worry so much! Thanks for sharing!!
If you have the available space I would recommend to grow your seedlings in a south facing window. The direct sunlight makes them much more hardy and ready for being planted outdoors.
I can confirm this. I ran out of space in my grow tent and had to move one of my tomato seedlings to a window. I don't have a South facing window, but east and west so I had to move it twice a day😅
When it came to hardening off...the one kept on by a window was not affected one bit...while all the ones from my tent almost died on the first day!
Look great tips about hardening off plants. You are right a lot of people forget about the critters and they eat their plants if they leave them on the ground unprotected. Good stuff.
Ugh. Here in NW Ohio I spent a week hardening off our cool weather starts and I left them out overnight too early. We ended up getting some frost that night and I killed all my plants🙇♀️. We restarted and I’m hopeful with this cooler than usual spring we will get a harvest before it gets too hot. We have had the craziest spring weather the past few years.
These weather 'patterns' are resembling recognizable patterns less and less. Your poor little ones. :(
Luke, thanks for the tips, especially regarding taking advantage of overcast weather. We have had a lot of cloudy weather here this spring (Rhode Island zone 6) and I was able to harden off my tomatoes and peppers no problem in about 3 days, as you suggest. I ended up moving them inside more because of cold nights rather than for the hardening off process. Also good tips about finding a place where it gets shade in the afternoon and elevating the trays.
Just experienced this due to wacky NC weather, 87 one day 62 the next. Frost one day then 64 at night the next. I was on day 4 & the hot clear 87 day came & voila, leaf burn. We’ll have 4 days of overcast days so hopefully I’ll be less stressed & they’ll be less stressed.
You are an excellent teacher, Luke ! Thank you 😊 for this very much needed explanation!
I’m in 5b and I start my seeds inside
I’ve had a garden in Pennsylvania for over 10 years, over 200 plants including tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, etc. I start them under grow lights in the basement. I have NEVER, not one time hardened off my plants. I don’t have any problems. It can be stressful on the plants, but I rarely lose any. This is very interesting! Love this channel!
how hot is it wen u take outside n is it sunny n hot?
i loose plants every year from the sun burning then my lights r not high end so sun is too much for em
Thank you luke i always learn so much you are my favorite gardening channel.
Been doing this for 10 years and I have never had this fail.
Appreciate you freezing yourself for us, I really needed advice on this. Haven’t had much success doing this before and mucked it up. Thanks 🙏✌️🌱
I sew spinach, lettuce, chard and garlic starting in spring. In fall when temperatures are low, I put the plants under clear plastic tubs. When daytime temps are too cold, I leave them covered day and night. About February on nicer days, I open the tubs during day. I pick all but garlic the rest of spring. It takes longer to grow them, but delicious. Sometimes lettuce needs reseeded every two weeks in summer.
I also use a fan to get them used to breeze or softy run your hand over them.
I had this thought the other day, and wondered how well it works. Do you notice that they're noticeably tougher after using a fan?
@@kevinsippeljr9984 Be careful with fans. It can dry them out really fast. Keep the fan good distance away, on low setting, and keep an eye on them.
Thank you for this video! You saved me from accidentally hurting my plants.
Fantastic video- even for us seasoned gardeners! Thanks!!!!!
So glad this popped up in the recommendations! Great information. I'm going to move my saw horse tables to the front of the house to take advantage of the afternoon shade.
YAY I live in the U.K., so cloudy and overcast days are no problem ! =9 =D
i put my plants on the porch and a bunch of baby quail (teens) started eating everything and they are so cute, you dont want to scare them!. Thanks luke
So that's why I never have any trouble whatsoever in Oregon. I have some pumpkins and cucumbers I plan to plant out on the first of June. There's not a single sunny day forecast before then.
Learned about the need to harden off plants the hard way. Burned a few plants in my first attempt at gardening this year
Super informative Luke! I'm in Omaha and I'm lucky that my deck box (the thing that stores the patio furniture cushions) is tucked into a corner against white siding. It's the perfect "table" and allows me to start hardening off in early April. When I gardened in norther PA I'd harden off by putting my starts in a shady spot for a few weeks - takes longer but unless there is a real cold snap there is no moving them in and out.
That's the way to do it! Keep it simple :)
I started hardening off yesterday and left them out all day. When I brought them in they seemed droopy but recovered. Today we have clouds and rain so I'm hoping they'll fare better in those conditions.
Peak sun hours vary based on location, I'm in Florida and ours is 10 am to 4pm summer and others seasons is 11am to 3pm, we average 5.5 but during summer get over 6 peak hours. Just do an internet search for your area.
Very neat simple yet detail video about hardening off properly without the stressors for both us and the plants. :)
Second-year gardener and live in the Ozarks. I'm on a hilltop in the country and can get a lot of wind. I learned that windburn is a thing too. This year moving everybody has been a real hassle due to the weather (heavy storms/wind, etc), but looking for a few mild, overcast days soon! Thanks for these great tips! You are terrific.
That is exactly where I'm at. Have you come up with any solutions?
Great hints on how and why to harden off seedlings. Thank you. Just a couple notes: Peak sun is noon (+/- 2 hours, so 10-2 (unless time zone is messed up)). Plants get their nitrogen from the soil, not from the air, with the exception of legumes, which have nitrogen fixing bacteria in their root nodules.
You sound like a soil scientist 🤣. Are we the same human, im a soil scientist that’s why I ask.
@@GardeningInCanada Just a teacher....
Thanks bro! Didn't think about the raising flats up, cool. I'm neglectful, but always have best results putting plants out during a few days of overcast too or on North side of a wall.
Another great way to do it is to get them out in the sun as soon as they germinate. Once they start popping up through the dirt. I gave this a try with very good results. I do not need to harden them off at all. They have not gotten sun burnt at all. They are all ready to stay outside. I will say I did plant my plants in April. But you have to do it as soon as they pop through the dirt. Not as big as the plants you have though in the video. I also put them out on cloudy days as well.
Yes you are absolutely correct, super great results, I did that and it really works.
Am I missing something? It seems like if you could leave them out when they first popped up, you could just plant them where they are going to be growing??? Maybe the nighttime temps are still too low? Or is the soil not warm enough for them to germinate?
I wish I had seen this video two weeks ago.
The cold weather plants ( Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Brussel Sprouts) I started in my Aerogarden got too big and I needed to move them out, but with this crazy weather half of them died. We are having some crazy wind and it is getting super cold. (N. NV)
I'm sooo bummed. All that hard work down the toilet. So I am transferring my other starts to soil in cardboard boxes and storage buckets. (Still too cold & windy to plant)
I am setting them out more and more each day. More shade @ start then mid range then about 8 hrs while at work in an area that the fence and house create shade.
It seems to be working. Plus the higher sides of the containers are keeping them somewhat safe from the wind. If this crazy weather keeps up much longer, I will need to break out the big guns, my grow tent and major grow lights.
Thanks for the knowledge. Many Blessings
I must have gotten extremely lucky with my batch of plants I put out in the garden this past Saturday. I planned to harden things off but well... My tomatoes grew extremely well inside in a grow tent up until they didn't. Tried babying them, but they were just getting worse so I decided to get them outside into the raised garden. They are doing so much better now. Transplanted about 20-30 plants that day along with them. Vegetables, herbs, flowers. Just about everything I had that was outgrowing my grow tent went outside. The only sign of stress I had came from my Kale. It wilted the next day in the sun but a good water at the base had them perking right back up the same day. Saturday was partly cloudy but every day since then has been clear and sunny. All the plants look so much happier outside now! Also, I use a fan in my grow tent. Helps keep mold away and I vary the speed on the fan randomly so the plants are already used to wind currents.
Ditto. And I used a Shade Net Tunnel, plus the overcast days and rain helped too.
thank you, Luke! This video was perfect timing..great info!
I like when I plant out with a few cloudy days in forcast to ease the plants
My front porch is the perfect place for hardening off. It gives me morning sun, like you said, then shady after 12:30/1:00. Fumbled into this knowledge last year during my novice stage. Lol.
This was the perfect video for today! I just put my tomatoes out to start hardening them off and had some questions. And just when I was about to google "what other seedlings should be hardened off?", you literally answered that question too. Thanks for always having such clear and useful videos.
Love you Luke. You have infinite patience lol. I've been hauling the plants in and out for some time.
Me too. Every nice day I've been taking them outside
Great advice for northern climates! 👍Here in Charlotte, we can cheat a bit though. It gets warm enough to start gardening in late Feb/early March, so they can actually go straight into that weaker sun without any issues. Sometimes I'll put them in mottled shade for a day or two, if it's later in the season or something I bought online. I made my own lights using offroad LED headlights, so it's about the same as spring sun. PS- Those white icicle radishes I bought from you are doing very well. 4" of green as of 4/15. Can't wait to taste!
Will definitely be keeping this in mind for next year - made the mistake of putting my seedlings out into my greenhouse on the first super sunny day of the season..... hopefully have learned my lesson lol!
I have shade covers, keep'em on for a week and that works well for me.
Omegawerewolfx same ! I use an old screen door from a slider. Just use it as a lean to
Yes!! Love overcast days! Thanks for the great info on this subject.
I re- watched this video yesterday to get some tips on hardening off and guess what! I have a week's worth of cloudy days in my forecast. I'll be ready for May 15th planting date.
Thank you for this advice, I'm doing it right now with my tomatoes and peppers, and so far no burnt leaves! I really traumatized them last year lol
Glad you did this video, I thought hardening off had to do with temperature, not sunlight!
It’s both.....he should have said that.
@@frasersgirl4383 very true!🌱😊
He does. At the 5:00 mark.
Its sun, cold and wind.
They just need to toughen up !
Great tips also when you do plant them outside you still have to watch them because you get into a heat spell and you better cover with shade. Planted an avocado tree two years old and this year we went through a heat spell it almost withered to its death But you’re right after it recovered it’s leaves were deep green and thick thanks for your vid
Well this is interesting.... a few days ago when I brought my heat-tolerant tomatoes out to start hardening off (my spring tomatoes are already in the ground since days here in Texas are already getting up to mid 80s), I was thinking of how the leaves were so thin and soft compared to my older plants. Then today I felt the leaves and noticed they seemed a bit firmer and thicker. Now I know why! Once outside, they don't come back in because we have SO many pest insects here, but I have a large shade tree so I leave them where they get dappled sunlight all day from the tree leaves. (this is my first year growing my plants from seed and I'm still learning) I also fully agree with the nursery hardening off! I got an Aloe Vera plant, and it got sunscald! Talk about irony, an aloe plant getting sunburn.....
Aloe vera is famous for scalding and turning brown. If you bring them inside to full shade for awhile, they usually recover and turn back to green.
My favorite gardener!
I have a room with patio doors. I leave the door open overnight with a towel to keep mice from getting into the rest of my house. The cooler room is a good start toward gardening off. Then I bring them out to the shade then sun, covering for the hottest part of the day.
Some people use the garage if its facing south
thank you for your tip ..is very important to know....and thank you for your time i always learned something new with you.
If you're looking for a video, maybe one on chamomile? For me, I finally had lavender germination (3 out of 30 seeds, LOL). I loved moving my plants onto my porch. It was protected but I got really lucky and lost maybe 2 out of over 500. Sounds like a lot but when you consider chives, marigolds, and other flowers or herbs, it's not.
i have never had lavender seeds germ. Resorted to buying whole plants. very happy with my 3 different varieties
I live in New Mexico where it's intense sun all day every day! We are at about 6000 feet elevation and the sun shines so intensely. This is my first season with a garden...cross your fingers for me.
Try putting some nylon window screen as a covering the first couple days out. I use plant stakes or bamboo skewers to hold the screen up off the plant.
Hey Luke, ty as usual. Cant wait for my seeds I ordered from ur site last week. So excited.
I bought a big tomato plant but when I got it home I kept it in the house and put it out gradually. But... It developed these brown spots on the leaves. I removed those and now they are again on the lower leaves. It's still in the pot I bought it in. It's growing new leaves as suckers.
Thank you! So helpful...this is the most challenging part of gardening for me!
Great explanation! Easy to understand for a beginner gardener :)
Thanks, Luke this video is right on time for me.
I always learn so much from you, Luke. Thank you!
Great tip!
I wish my tomato plants looked like yours. I’m praying they bounce back 🤞🏾🙏🏾
I 've had better yields with smaller plants.
@@PRDreams Do use worm casting mine are 2 feet tall
Learning so much from your channel. Thanks MIGardener. 🌻🌷🌻🌷
3:54 Save some time.
You’re doing the Lord’s work. Lol
Agent Ham he definitely likes a chat
Thanks. So sick of all these plant videos being 12+ M long yet only containing ten seconds of information.
Dr. Lex Winter
The longer it is the more money he makes from UA-cam.
Thank you!
Yes, I use the shade to my advantage in hardening my plants.
Oh i never new that about the leaf. Thst a great tip
nice info, ty. Hardening off was always my nemesis , until this year!
I work from 9 -4 6 days a week its hard to harden plants off for me as im.gone at times to put em outside. I have made a 10x10 area with shade cloth as cover and that has helped me be able to leave em out all day and on my off day i remove shade cover for an hour in morning, afternoon, and evening. And seems to work for me in TN where the sun will bleach ur shirt in 3 days if left out.
I work 12.5 hour days. Hard for me too. I just take them out on days I'm off. Lol
@@misscandicern yeah u work a bit longer than me at ur job, but I only get 1 off day.
I continue to learn so much from your videos. Thanks, Luke!
Thank you--this is very informative. I'll try this next week with my tomato seedlings.
Another great way to help hardening off plants is to stroke them back and forth every day, before putting them out! I believe it mimics the wind and helps them to develop thicker, more protective leaves. I guess it might not help with the sun though. I find it an enjoyable process too, especially if it's tomatoes or herbs as the plants also release their beautiful aromas when stroked in that way.
Oh and I also use glass cloches and cold frames in the garden so I can vary the amount of direct sun the plants get. It's quite a hassle going in and out of my house to harden off plants. So I only take the plants out once and then they stay out, either under the cloche or in the cold frame.
You’re a fantastic teacher!
Lol, I had a cat jump onto the shelf with my seedlings to enjoy the heat from the grow lights and when I uncovered them the cat began eating the kale seedlings.
I grow my seedlings right at a sunny window and bring them outside if it's not to cold outside here in northern Germany.
They never showed signs of stress from the sun even if I forget them outside😅
It there a tip on flimsy/floopy seedlings? My peppers always fall over even in the slightest of wind breezes.
3 days of clouds? No problem at all in Cleveland. 3 days without clouds, now that is the hard part, haha
same here on california north coast
O-H!
@@CougheeBrosGenetics I-O
😂 I’m in PA, and thinking....”freezing in 54 degrees?”😂
No brighter here on the other side of the Lake.
I have been doing it that way for over 50 years. My dad taught me, and his dad taught him etc. I do not wait for cloudy days though. Cloudy days wait for me. I am in western NY.
I have learned and continue to learn so much from you. Thank you for doing what you do!
Set the tray outside, throw a clear rubbermaid on it for a few days. Take off during high heat in the day. That's basically all I've had to do. Oh I have 2x 1000 W HPS lights, the sun wishes it was that bright lol. Also 2x 432 W T5 set-ups, and a 400 W HPS. Put plants as close as possible with lots of air movement. I'm just worried about cold weather, not light exposure honestly, even from the T5's. I've never had sun scald before.
Watched this one again for the tips! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks a lot! Much work and time to save there.
thanks look you are doing us great help by your tips and advice i started to grow my tomatoes from seeds n i placed them under sun later i found white leave ending it was a bad sun scald i was angry i thought i lost them but surprisingly they started to grow green leaves again so now i set a timer n follow your tips ✌️