Hardening seedlings without Probably and Probably
Advice will be, and I'll start with the result of effective hardening. You've already seen my tomatoes, now other temporary inhabitants of the greenhouse.
Yes, it is in it that all the hardening takes place. I will write below how you can harden without a greenhouse.
This is petunia Albinia F1, yesterday transplanted into a pots from a package, sown on January 4, 2020:
It can be seen that he only enjoys the spaciousness, no discomfort.
About hardening
Yes, you need to harden the seedlings and do it gradually. Doesn't someone know this? Alas, yes! So, what happens and, believe me, has been thousands of times among gardeners:
- Freeze beat
- The wind broke
- Sunburn burned almost all the leaves
Just the other day I watched a video, an experienced gardener told me that once she had 1000 tomato bushes frozen in a greenhouse...
It often happens like this:
- From prolonged hypothermia, the seedlings retarded development. Or dropped flowers, fruits. Or caught some illness.
- From sunburn, the seedlings have retarded in development, the bush has weakened
- The wind broke part of the leaves, or part of the seedlings died
As my regular readers know, my 8 bushes froze, although they remained viable, but it’s not that... This is instead of hardening.
Tip # 1 for safe hardening
Temper under arcs with covering material. You can always additionally cover for the night, or raise the material at the right time to get used to the light.
At the end of April and later in most regions, agrospan with a density of 17 and 42 is suitable. If it's cold, add an extra layer. A denser agrospan is good in frost, but it does not let rain water through and is less likely to let light through.
It is even easier to temper in a greenhouse with a heater:
Additionally, arcs with covering material are placed in the greenhouse.
Tip # 2
If you are going to take out seedlings on a balcony or in the open air, you need to take them out not according to time, but according to the weather. The air temperature can be very different, sometimes 15 minutes is enough, and sometimes a whole warm cloudy day the seedlings will walk with pleasure.
The lowest temperature for hardening tomatoes, peppers, eggplants is NOT 0 ° С, but + 10 ° С. If lower, this is a test of the strength of immunity, and not hardening.
Tip # 3
It is better to follow a strict rule for lighting. In the sun after the windowsill, the seedlings should be hardened for 15 minutes on the first day, 30 minutes on the second, in the third hour, etc. No longer! If you missed a day, repeat the rate of the previous day.
It is impossible to harden indoor seedlings from the wind. It is necessary to protect, and let it grow and grow stronger. A light breeze doesn't count. An exception, if the seedlings are a couple of centimeters from the ground, then the wind is unlikely to harm it :)
It is easier for an adult plant to cope with the wind. Once in my greenhouse, after planting tomato seedlings, the wind broke off the leaves of the extreme bushes. So consider the wind load and take it into account again!
Hope you found it helpful.
How do you temper the seedlings?
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