UV lights to wean plants?

[slugworth]

Has anybody ever tried using UV lights(the kind that give you a sunburn) on plants to wean them to the outdoor sunlight?
I lose a lot of plants each year in the indoor to outdoor transition.

[Cole_Robbie]

I've had that idea, but never tried it. I think you would want to run them on a timer when you're not around, for the sake of your own health.

[luigiwu]

Why do you lose plants every year in the indoor/outdoor transition? That hasn't happened to me ad I actually am not all *that* careful about it aside from the first 2 days or so...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by luigiwu

Why do you lose plants every year in the indoor/outdoor transition? That hasn't happened to me ad I actually am not all *that* careful about it aside from the first 2 days or so...

I was thinking the same thing.

Worth

[tash11]

I third the question on how you loose plants. I only loose them in the transition if the cats try to lay on them. If I put a chair over them then the cats lay on the chair instead.

I put them on my east facing porch, so they are out of wind, only get east morning light, and generally do fine there until I get them in the ground.

[slugworth]

lost a betterboy last week as a matter of fact and heirloom cuttings..
we had warm days and I left the plants outdoors too long.
Now they are just dead sticks.

[joseph]

I stopped losing plants when I switched to hardening off under a canopy of 6 mil or thicker plastic. The plastic absorbs the UV light so that they can adapt without getting sunburned... I just make sure that the sides of the canopy are open, so that I don't bake the seedlings.

[slugworth]

2 years ago I had plants under a glass lean-to against the garage,but mice ate the plants down to the stalks and they croaked(the plants,not the mice unfortunately).
Sometimes I pitch a tent under cheesecloth,but that gets tedious and expensive.
Somebody should invent a sun blocker to spray on,just for plants.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by slugworth

2 years ago I had plants under a glass lean-to against the garage,but mice ate the plants down to the stalks and they croaked(the plants,not the mice unfortunately).
Sometimes I pitch a tent under cheesecloth,but that gets tedious and expensive.
Somebody should invent a sun blocker to spray on,just for plants.

You have to get them used to it gradually just like you have to in the summer.
The longer you wait the longer it takes for this to happen due to the strength of the sun becoming stronger.

Also putting them in the shade fir a bit each day helps.
Find a spot that only gets about 2 hours or less of direct sun and then shade.
Sun blocker wont do any good because the plant would never get used to the sun.

Worth

[tash11]

Originally Posted by slugworth

lost a betterboy last week as a matter of fact and heirloom cuttings..
we had warm days and I left the plants outdoors too long.
Now they are just dead sticks.

Originally Posted by Worth1

You have to get them used to it gradually just like you have to in the summer.
The longer you wait the longer it takes for this to happen due to the strength of the sun becoming stronger.

Also putting them in the shade fir a bit each day helps.
Find a spot that only gets about 2 hours or less of direct sun and then shade.
Sun blocker wont do any good because the plant would never get used to the sun.

Worth

That's why I put them on my east facing porch. They get just a bit of the gentlest direct sun in the morning, then bright shade the rest of the day. I leave them out at all times unless it gets under 50. With this years batch I actually started doing it last week when it was warm with some seedlings that only have a couple leaves. Most aren't even potted up yet. But this week is cold so back under the lights they go.

[Darren Abbey]

I wonder how mature the plants are when moved outside for those who do and don't experience loss of plants during the in to out transition.

That said. I just finished building a fluorescent lighting setup in my basement (now used for a chestnut and a few bur oak seedlings that can't go out quite yet) that I could use for testing since I've got a couple black-light bulbs of the right format to fit.

[dmforcier]

I'd point more to what light you're using to start them. There really shouldn't be that much shock.

The last couple years I've been starting under a four-lamp T8 fixture a couple inches above the babies. Nothing special about the lamps - two 6500K and two 4600K (5400K?). At about 4 inches or so I move them into the Texas sun for a half hour, wait a day, then an hour. Maybe four reps, then they get full sun. NO incidence of sunburn this year, though they did get wilty for a couple weeks.

Now, I'm growing in containers. If you're in ground then a week of reps before into the ground. Shade is probably a good thing for a while.

But my point is, whatever you're using for light before they go outside probably isn't good enough. You should not be seeing plant death from exposure shock.

Dennis