If the hardening off process is simply insufficient, you can still have problems. You need to immediately get your plants back into protected, indoor conditions so you have a chance at survival. There is a fairly short period you have to “rescue” your plants, should you find yourself in a situation with burned leaves. Once this damage gets severe enough, the plant is no longer able to photosynthesize and will sometimes perish. If a plant hasn’t yet developed the needed protections, the plant’s leaves will usually develop white spots that progress to becoming all white. But, it takes a little bit of time to develop these protections. Plants can create sort of a natural and permanent sun-tan lotion, if you will. If you don’t harden off your indoor grown seedlings, it is almost a certainty that they will die.Įssentially, the sun will “burn” your plant’s leaves. The process helps prepare them for the “ real world” where they must depend on their built-in protection for survival. Hardening off also deals with acclimatizing your plants to outdoor conditions. In general, we recommend daytime temperatures in the 50’s, but you can get away with the mid to high 40’s for most plants. In northern climates, we want to use “ good, warm days” for hardening off. As the plant becomes accustomed, it can tolerate longer and longer exposures. Initially, you want to use really short periods. The hardening off process typically occurs over several days, for increasingly longer periods of time. It takes several fairly short exposures for the plant to build up the necessary protections from that bright and powerful source of light!Įssentially, the sun is magnitudes stronger and brighter than any kind of indoor garden lighting you could possibly buy. Hardening off is the process of slowly introducing your indoor grown seedlings to the “ real” sun.
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