Hardening of

pipefitter508 · April 4, 2017

I buy all my garden supplies from a farm near by they have 9
Greenhouse were they grow thousands of tomato plants to sell
So I asked about hardening off so many an I was told what they do is
With hold watering till they wilt then water this hardens them off they also use this method when growing the seedlings instead of grow lights this prevents them from stretching
Has anyone here heard of or used this method
Bob

BigVanVader · April 4, 2017

Yeah, a lot of wholesale plant distributors do this. I toured a facility that showed us the same method. They used misters and only gave the plants enough water to survive until ready to ship.

KarenO · April 4, 2017

Reducing water, never to the point of wilting, is one of the steps in the hardening off process which is the term for the process of transitioning seedlings grown indoor to prepare them for transplant into an outdoor garden.
There are slight variations in methods and there is a lot of good information online regarding how to do it properly to give seedlings the best chance of adjusting well from a sheltered environment with controlled conditions to the temp swings, full sunlight and wind if outdoor conditions.
Commercial greenhouses restrict water and fertilizer prior to shipping to dramatically slow the growth so that the seedlings don't get leggy in transit in dark semi trailers.
Many folks think seedlings they buy are ready to plant but unless those seedlings purchased were grown outdoors, all purchased plants should undergo the same hardening off process that homegrown seedlings need.
I have a firm belief that there is a vast difference between reducing and stopping watering and that at no time should seedlings be allowed to wilt. I believe drought to the point of wilting stresses them, causes nutrient uptake issues and sets them back needlessly.
KarenO

Cole_Robbie · April 5, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by pipefitter508

With hold watering till they wilt then water

I treat all of my plants that way. It keeps me from losing plants to damping off.

Worth1 · April 5, 2017

To me hardening off is simply getting them used to the UV rays of the sun nothing more.
You can (harden off) all you want with water, they will burn up if hauled outside and left after growing a month or two in the house and never seeing UV light.
The later in the spring this is the worse the effect due to the intensity of the sun being greater.

Worth

Worth1 · April 5, 2017

I know a guy that stays in the house all day and sleeps never sees the sun.
Fish belly white.
He would need hardening off.

Father'sDaughter · April 5, 2017

Unless we spend winters visiting tanning booths, we northerners have to harden ourselves off every summer with a backyard base tan before hitting the beach, otherwise we'd turn as red as a boiled lobster in just an hour or two.

brownrexx · April 5, 2017

Withholding water may toughen them up for the stresses of shipping but I do not see how it would harden them off to living outdoors in bright sunlight.

It seems like unnecessary stress for home grown plants to me.

April 4, 2017	#1
pipefitter508 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Seekonk MA Posts: 55	Hardening off I buy all my garden supplies from a farm near by they have 9 Greenhouse were they grow thousands of tomato plants to sell So I asked about hardening off so many an I was told what they do is With hold watering till they wilt then water this hardens them off they also use this method when growing the seedlings instead of grow lights this prevents them from stretching Has anyone here heard of or used this method Bob Last edited by pipefitter508; April 4, 2017 at 04:14 PM.

April 4, 2017	#3
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Reducing water, never to the point of wilting, is one of the steps in the hardening off process which is the term for the process of transitioning seedlings grown indoor to prepare them for transplant into an outdoor garden. There are slight variations in methods and there is a lot of good information online regarding how to do it properly to give seedlings the best chance of adjusting well from a sheltered environment with controlled conditions to the temp swings, full sunlight and wind if outdoor conditions. Commercial greenhouses restrict water and fertilizer prior to shipping to dramatically slow the growth so that the seedlings don't get leggy in transit in dark semi trailers. Many folks think seedlings they buy are ready to plant but unless those seedlings purchased were grown outdoors, all purchased plants should undergo the same hardening off process that homegrown seedlings need. I have a firm belief that there is a vast difference between reducing and stopping watering and that at no time should seedlings be allowed to wilt. I believe drought to the point of wilting stresses them, causes nutrient uptake issues and sets them back needlessly. KarenO Last edited by KarenO; April 4, 2017 at 05:58 PM.

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April 4, 2017	#2
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	Yeah, a lot of wholesale plant distributors do this. I toured a facility that showed us the same method. They used misters and only gave the plants enough water to survive until ready to ship.

April 5, 2017	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	To me hardening off is simply getting them used to the UV rays of the sun nothing more. You can (harden off) all you want with water, they will burn up if hauled outside and left after growing a month or two in the house and never seeing UV light. The later in the spring this is the worse the effect due to the intensity of the sun being greater. Worth

April 5, 2017	#7
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	Unless we spend winters visiting tanning booths, we northerners have to harden ourselves off every summer with a backyard base tan before hitting the beach, otherwise we'd turn as red as a boiled lobster in just an hour or two.

April 5, 2017	#8
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	Withholding water may toughen them up for the stresses of shipping but I do not see how it would harden them off to living outdoors in bright sunlight. It seems like unnecessary stress for home grown plants to me.