How to prepare Tomato and Vegetable Starts for Transplanting

  

When it comes to moving your new seedlings to the great outdoors, it’s important to take your time. This applies whether you grew your own tomato, vegetables or flowers from seed or bought them from our greenhouse. Moving your plants from the house or greenhouse directly into the garden without giving them time to adjust will set them back significantly and in some cases, they’ll fail to survive.   

 

 

 

 

This slow transition from indoors to the outside is called “hardening off”. Hardening off plants gradually exposes them to outdoor light, wind, and temperatures. The process is easy, but it takes time. In fact, you should plan for a week or so to get your immature plants ready to transplant into the garden.

On the first day, pick a sheltered, shady spot under a tree or on the patio and leave them there for 5 or 6 hours.  

  

  

  

  

Bring them in that night. The second day, place your plants where they will receive morning sun and afternoon shade. This will help your seedlings adjust to direct sunlight. Leave them in this spot for 6 to 7 hours. On the third day, increase the exposure time to direct sun and leave your transplants out after dark.  

 

 

  

 

 

On the fourth day, if the nighttime temperatures stay above 50° F, leave your starter plants out all night. Follow the same routine for days five and six but be prepared to bring your plants back in if the nighttime temperatures fall. After this amount of time, your tomato, pepper, and vegetable seedlings should be ready to plant in the garden.  

If nighttime temperatures continue to drop into the 30’s and 40’s, consider using season extenders like N-Sulate or Insulated Plant Protectors. Insulated Plant Protectors help protect tomatoes and peppers and other crops when temperatures drop.

N-Sulate is another way to protect warm weather crops against cold temperatures. This cloth product helps raise the temperature around your plants by 6° to 8° F.    

  

  

  

When you do decide to plant, pick a cloudy day. This will help your seedlings make the transition from container to the garden even easier.  Even then, you will want to keep an eye on the forecast. Our average last day of frost is May 13, but this can vary greatly. Have a frost blanket or floating row cover ready to protect your plants. Do not use plastic to cover your plants. If plants are small enough, throw a box over them to keep the frost off.   

  

  

  

  

  

Make sure you keep your plants watered during this hardening off process. Being outside means they will dry out faster, so keep an eye on the watering.  Moist soil will cope with temperature swings better than dry soil.