Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Hobden
"Judith" wrote[color=blue][i]
I think it depends what plants and what the weather is like. We have also
put plants straight out into the allotment on rare occasions and sometimes
they are OK and at other time, when the weather turns a bit cold say, they
suffer with leaf scorch. Our tomatoes have been out on our patio at home for
a few weeks now, actually flowering, and will be planted out on our plot
next week.
Chillies and aubergines have not been hardened off but this year will go out
under small polytunnels/large cloches anyway.
|
Wow! Tomatoes flowering!
We're a long way behind - chillies about 4inches tall, tomatoes were sown in March and had to be re-sown in April after a failure of our semi-automatic watering system while we were away.
Hardening off: basically, I start everything in the greenhouse if possible. Then, over the period from March to June, in succession I turn off the heating, remove the bubble wrap insulation, start leaving the door open at night. So once I feel confident that there are no frosts to come (late May/early June) things go outside without need for hardening off.
Things which go out earlier I 'harden' by moving them from the warm inner part of the greenhouse to the cool section between the inner and outer doors.
On the whole it works. I have had the odd thing perhaps one set of seedlings , once every 3-5 years) look a bit unhappy after a sudden cold night, but I don't think I've killed anything by lack of hardening off in the traditional "put it out in the day and bring it in at night" sense.
__________________
getstats - A society in which our lives and choices are enriched by an understanding of statistics. Go to
www.getstats.org.uk for more information