THE HARDENING PROCESS
We wish I knew how important this step was when I first started growing from seeds indoors.
We must admit, the first time we grew tomatoes indoors, we directly exposed the plants to the outdoor sun, they didn’t make it. Lesson learned, and we found out about an important step called “Plant Hardening”
There are many steps to do this, some even recommend to expose your plants for only an hour for the first day. But it can be time consuming to keep moving plants inside and outside each day.
Eventually, we ended up using a tarp and changed our process. Instead of constantly moving the plant, we kept them in one spot and placed a tarp over them. This saved us time and only brought the plants inside if there is an unexpected frost warning.
This process takes about a week but worth it to keep your plants healthy before they can be planted in their final spot. This works for any plants grown indoors and needs to be transplanted outdoors. Just make sure to do this process when the weather is warm and safe from frost.
DAY 1-2 Keep the plants under full shade
DAY 3-4 Expose the plants under morning or late afternoon sun. Sun rays during these times are not as strong.
DAY 5 Check to see how the plants are transitioning, such as signs of sun burn. If it needs more time, continue to expose only to morning and afternoon shade. If the plant is looking greener, then start exposing to full sun.
DAY 6-7 Expose the plants under full sun.
Water well during this process and open air helps them adjust much faster.
After this process, they can now be transplanted in their final spot.
