Seasonal Sunday: How to Harden Off your Seedlings

The process of turning a weak pussy seedling into a big tough beefcake plant is known as "hardening off."  Hardening off your seedlings prepares them for their new life outdoors.  I've skipped this process and let me tell you that was a huge mistake.  There is little more frustrating than pouring your heart and soul into seedlings and have them shrivel up and die before they have had the chance to fulfill their life's purpose.  This is why you read my blog, to learn from my stupid mistakes.  

Hardening off your seedlings takes time.  Plan to spend at least a week to 10 days, or more acclimating them into the wild outdoors. Whipping your seedlings into big strong plants is easiest explained in three phases.  We shall call this process "Operation Christian Bale," or OCB for short.

OCB Phase 1.  Place your seedlings outdoors for an hour or two at a time.  Plants should be watered well before you place them outside and they should be placed in the shade with no wind.  You can gradually increase the time outside each day by another hour or two.

OCB Phase 2.  You can now have your seedlings outdoors for several hours each day.  Keep increasing that time outdoors by an hour or two each day.  They are still being set in the shade at this point.  Water your plants a bit less before you put them outside so that the soil is damp but not dry.

OCB Phase 3.  Start putting the seedlings in the sun for an hour or two each day as well as the shade for the rest of the time outside.  Keep an eye on the leaves to make sure the sun isn't drying them out too much or bleaching spots.  Keep the soil moist to dry and keep bringing them inside at night.  You can go ahead and plant your beefcake seedlings in the garden when they seem ready and the overnight temp is above 40 degrees.

Hardening off seedlings can be done differently depending on where you live and how the weather is each particular year.  You can do what works best for you but this is a general guide for you to get started.  Too many times I've done it wrong or too fast and ended up with dead withered plants.  Slower is better during Operation Christian Bale.

Christian Bale before and after hardening off.