HARDEN THEM OFF? HOW?

“As the weather warms up in early May, move your seedlings outside to harden off.” So says the article, written for the wussy southern Ontario gardener. As the weather warms up! Please! It may do so in the afternoon but after dark the temperature falls below freezing, death to any seedlings left outside.

Even during the day, we have to contend with cold drying winds that can desiccate tiny leaves turning them a sickly white colour. In fact, the wind can be more dangerous to tender plants than the cold. Plants with largish leaves, like geraniums, are particularly susceptible to wind damage.

I find the hardening process the most difficult part of growing plants from seed. It is a lot of work carrying flats of plants in and out morning and evening. Too much work for me. As soon we get nights above freezing, I put some flats on a table in my unheated back shed. This gets them out of my basement and I can start cleaning up down there. The shed protects the plants from the wind and they get a good western light from the windows. In the middle of the month, I will put some of the hardiest (cosmos, bachelor button, marigold) outside beside the house in a spot sheltered from the wind.

However, when flats are left outside, rain can be a danger as well. A heavy rain can flood the flats so that the packs are sitting in water. It is best to remove the under tray and place the packs into mesh trays so that rain water can drain away.

Some people may say a green house is the answer but heating a green house through our cold nights is an expensive proposition. Nor does it seem sensible to build a greenhouse to be used for only two or three weeks a year. In my case, my garden is too small for even a tiny greenhouse.

So my plants do not get hardened off as the advice books suggest. A few days before planting, I set them outside in a sheltered spot and that is the only introduction to the wide world they will get. After that they are on their own. In most cases, they do OK.