Take Your Seedlings Outside Daily

Once your seedlings in your greenhouse or home/garage get to the stage where the True/Real leaves are growing they can be put out during the day to harden up to the weather.

A seedling is said to be a seedling when the real leaves are growing. Image 1 shows the big wide baby leaves (Cotyledons) and also the real leaves have sprouted and are growing well.

Some seedlings when put straight out into the garden fail or their growth is greatly stunted when they are suddenly faced with the harsh nighttime weather, or cold windy rainy day weather, and are especially harmed when they experience a frost at such a young stage in their growth.

The seedling goes into “shock” and have real trouble dealing with the new environment.

If we take the time and make the effort to take the seedlings out day by day and bring them in each night they slowly acclimatize, meaning that they become accustomed to a new climate and new conditions when they are finally put into the garden. Getting the seedlings prepared like this means that they are only mildly put-out and recover much quickly.

All the best from
James M Sandbrook.
2nd of December, 2021.

PS:

Some people recommend cutting a plastic bottle in half and putting that over the seedling or a glass surrounding and covering, or some sort of plastic covering. It is easy to forget to uncover the seedlings during the daytime. The problem with this idea is that if the daytime is very hot and you are away for the day the seedling can get harmed from basically cooking in the magnified enclosed environment that they have been put in. With a covering over them they must be watched carefully. If they are just put out and brought in each day they can adjust to the weather more calmly.