Hello, my name is Alicia Kallal. I work for the University of Illinois Extension as
a horticulture educator in southern Illinois. This is the fourth and final
section of the seed starting module of the community gardening webinar series.
Previously we covered an introduction to seed starting, planting seeds, and
providing the proper environment for germination and the conditions of care
required for seedling growth. In this presentation I will explain the process
of hardening off your seedlings in preparation for transplanting and will
finish off with instructions on how to set your transplants in the garden. As
Martha discussed in the seedling growth section, the grow room temperature, media
moisture, light intensity, and air flow are all controlled and consistently
maintained to maximize healthy seedling growth. This controlled environment is
very different from the environment outside and without a transitional
period our plants will not survive this change. Some of the outdoor conditions
that can cause problems for new transplants include intense sunlight,
wind, reduced water, and colder temperatures. Hardening off is the
process of gradually acclimating our plants to the outdoor environment before
we transplant them into the garden
Before I dive into the details of the hardening off process, I want to talk a
little bit about how we know when our seedlings are ready to transplant in the
garden in order to ensure that your seedlings have matured enough you need
to wait until they have developed at least two true adult leaves before you
transplant the very first leaves to emerge are called the cotyledons or seed
leaves for many plants the cotyledons will look different than the adult
leaves tomatoes are a good example. In the bottom right picture you can see the
cotyledons on the tomato seedlings. They are lance
shaped with smooth margins, while the adult leaves have lobes. While
you can transplant with two fully expanded adult leaves, it is common to
wait until the plants are a little bit bigger than this. However, you do not want
to wait too long and have your plants outgrow their container before
transplanting. Healthy transplants should be short and stocky. A two to one ratio
of plant height to pot height is a rough guide for the maximum growth that the
container can sustain. Plants that are tall and spindly and plants with pot
bound roots as you can see in the picture on the bottom left have
undergone stress from remaining in a small container for too long. You should
avoid this situation by transplanting as soon as possible after your plants have
matured to an appropriate size. Now that we have considered the target size of
your plants for transplanting, we should also consider timing for hardening off
and transplanting within your overall garden schedule. Hardening off will take
seven to ten days so you will have to plan when to begin hardening off your
plants in advance of your target transplant date. Before you started your
seeds you decided when to sow your seeds by counting back from your target
outdoor planting date. That date was based upon the average frost free date in
your area, the hardiness or cold tolerance of the plant species, the
length of time needed for the crop to mature, and how quickly the seedlings
grow to the appropriate size for transplanting. As you begin to approach
your target date to plant in your garden you should evaluate if the weather
conditions are suitable for planting and if your plants are mature. If all signs
are a go then you should begin the hardening off process at least one week
before your planting date.
Now that we have established when it's time to harden off your seedlings, I will
talk about the how. Our goal in hardening off our plants is to prepare them for the
transition from their protected environment in our grow room to the
outdoor environment. During hardening off we gradually alter the growing
conditions, making them more like the conditions outside. This will cause the
plants to change the quality of their growth to withstand these new conditions.
About two weeks before your transplant date, lower the temperature of your grow
room and decrease the frequency of your watering. You can allow the soil surface
to dry out between waterings but do not let the plants wilt. Seven to ten days
before your transplant date, take the plants outside to a shady location that
is protected from the wind. Leave the plants outside for two to three hours
and then bring them back indoors. Over the next few days, gradually increase the
length of time that the plants are kept outside up to the point where you're
outside for 12 hours per day. You can also increase the full sun exposure for
your plants by about an hour per day. Keep the plants on your 12 hours per day
regimen for a couple of days. Then after that you can leave them outside 24 hours
a day for a few more days. At this point the plants should be ready to plant
transplant. Rather than carrying the plants in and out of the house every day
another option is to use a cold frame. A cold frame is essentially a box with a
clear glass or plastic lid that can be opened and closed. The plants are placed
inside the cold frame with the lid open during the day so that they don't
overheat and with the lid closed at night to keep in some of that warmth and
protect them from the cool overnight temperatures. If you have an unheated
sunroom that receives good sun exposure this might also be a good location to
harden off your plants.
The gradual change in the environment during hardening off allows the plants
to make adjustments to their growth that will allow them to withstand outdoor
conditions. You can think of hardening off as giving your plants a warning that
they need to put on sunscreen before sending them out into the sun. Lowering
the growing temperature and reducing water slows down the rate of plant
growth, which allows the plants to become less succulent and tender. The slower
growth allows the plant to put more energy into increasing the lignin
content of its cell walls. Lignin is the compound responsible for making cell
walls more tough and rigid. Another response to colder temperatures is the
increase of carbohydrate concentrations in the plant cells. Soluble sugars have
been shown to play a role in increasing cold tolerance. Gradually increasing sun
exposure and decreasing water availability also promotes the
thickening of the wax layer on the leaf surfaces. This wax layer helps to shield
the leaf tissue from intense sunlight and helps to reduce water loss from
transpiration. All of these adaptations allow the plants to withstand intense
sunlight wind cold and reduced water availability. Once you have your plants
hardened off, they are ready to transplant. So now I will go over some
tips for success and the steps for setting your transplants. Tip number one
is to transplant either on a cloudy day or in the evening. These times are less
stressful for the plants because the sunlight and heat are not as intense as
they are at midday. Your transplants are less likely to wilt or experience
transplant shock if they are planted during more favorable conditions. Tip
number two for transplanting is to make sure you prepare your plants by watering
them at least one hour before transplanting. Ideally you should water
in the morning before you transplant in the evening.
Watering in advance ensures that your plants will have a good water status and will make
the root ball easier to work with. In order to minimize stress to the roots
during transplanting, the media needs to be moist. This will help the root ball
hold together instead of crumbling and will keep the roots from drying out.
Watering at least an hour before you transplant makes the job less messy
because it allows time for excess moisture to drain out of the media and
it is better for the plant because it gives the plant a chance to take up some
of the water before going through the stress of transplanting. Now that you
know how to prepare your plants for transplanting, it is time to go through
the step-by-step process. Step one is to dig the hole. Your hole should have the
same depth as the plant's container but should be twice as wide as the container.
Making the hole wider provides an area of loose soil around the root zone where
the roots can more readily expand. Planting too deep can cause stem rot
and stunting of plant growth. One exception to the rule about planting
depth is tomatoes. Tomatoes will actually grow new roots from any stem planted
below the soil, so planting a few inches deeper than the container depth can
increase the root mass of the tomato plant. Once you have your hole prepared
the second step is to take the plant out of its container. Squeezing the sides of
the container near the top and the middle can help to loosen the root ball
and free the plant from the container. Make sure to handle the plant gently to
avoid damaging it. It also helps to tip the container sideways or downward
rather than trying to pull the plant up and out. If you're using peat pots or
other biodegradable pots you do not have to remove the container entirely. However
any peat pot that sticks above the soil surface needs to be removed. If you leave
peat pot sticking above the soil surface it will act as a wick that pulls the
moisture away from the roots. Once you have the plant free of the
container, gently massage the root ball to rough up the sides and untangle any
roots that have grown together in the shape of the container. Try to keep as
much of the media attached to the root ball as you can. When the roots are
prepped you are ready for step 3. Place the plant in the center of the hole. Then
you can fill the hole back in with soil and gently firm the soil around the root
ball. The soil should be firm enough to anchor the plant and keep it standing
upright. The fourth step is to thoroughly water the root zone. Watering
will cause the soil to settle and will remove any large air pockets that were
left when the hole was filled in. It's a good idea to use a soluble fertilizer
solution at this time to give the plants a boost and get them off to a good start.
A starter fertilizer will usually have a higher dose of phosphorous than a
balanced fertilizer because phosphorous is an important nutrient for root growth.
The fifth and final step of transplanting is to provide any
necessary protection or support for your plants. Protecting your garden from
wildlife may require several different strategies and will vary depending upon
the types of animals that you have in your area. Fencing is a measure that can
work well for pest exclusion as long as the fence is designed with the wildlife
in mind. Think about how high the animals can jump or climb, if the animals can
burrow, and how small the holes in the fence mesh will need to be to create a
sufficient barrier. Some other mechanisms to protect your garden from wildlife
include bird netting and animal repellents. If your garden location has
strong prevailing winds, you will need to shelter your new transplants from the
wind with some sort of temporary covering. This could be a tomato cage
with a plastic or fabric wrap around the sides, a milk jug with the bottom cut off
placed over the plant, or any number of creative structures
that you can fabricate with the materials you have on hand. You should
avoid sealing the plant entirely inside a container, however, because it could
easily overheat like the inside of your car on a summer day. As the plant grows
and becomes established, this temporary covering can be removed. The time of
transplant is also the best time to install support structures such as
stakes or cages that will be used to train and manage the plants as they grow
larger. It is much easier to put a tomato cage over a small plant and let it grow
up through the cage than it is to try and put a tomato cage on a plant that
has already grown large and sprawling.
This concludes the fourth and final presentation in our seed starting module.
In this series you have learned how to decide if starting plants from seeds is
right for you, how to plan your seed starting timeline, how to create a good
environment for germination and seedling growth, and how to harden off your plants
and transplant them into the garden. I hope you've enjoyed this presentation
and will continue watching the rest of the community gardening webinar series.
I'd also like to encourage you to visit the University of Illinois Extension
state horticulture website for more information about a wide range of
horticultural topics. We have resources covering fruit and vegetable production,
lawn care, herb gardening, pollinator gardening, and much much more. If you have
any questions about this presentation, feel free to contact me or Martha at the
contact email addresses listed here.
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