How to harden off plants

It’s important to let plants that have been grown indoors, acclimatize to the outdoors before you plant them outside. Why? Because they are only babies and the shock of the temperature change can kill them.

I read that you should start plants off with an hour of outside time, increasing it by an hour every day. Who has time for this?

It would be so labor intensive! Instead, here is what I do:

The first day I bring my seedlings outside for about a half day. the next six days I leave them outside in a sheltered spot and bring them in at night. The second week, I leave them outside at night (still in that sheltered spot).

Plants/seedlings need at least a week to acclimate to the outdoors.

I usually give mine at least two weeks.

I jsed to bring my seedlings into my shed, but these days I just load them onto the flat seat of my walker, and wheel them into the garage.