Hardening Off?

Are there any precautions that I should take when starting germinated vegetable plants in the greenhouse? I did start tomatoes successfully but I don’t want to take this one success as applied to all seeds. Are there any freshly germinated vegetable seeds that I need to shade? I am trying to maintain temps at 60-87 degrees. I will be germinating eggplant, tomatoes, and bell pepper for spring planting.
Oldude

I am not sure what you mean by 'hardening off', i.e. in what manner are you trying to harden off a plant? If you mean by putting some germinated seedlings in a grhouse, I don't think of that as hardening off. If that is what you mean to do, then, they can take full sun in the grhouse, they will love it.

When you move the plants outside, then you will have to harden them off somewhat-I try to move stuff outside in the early spring by picking a time of a few days where the nighttime temps are in the 40's, so its fairly warm (or 50's-anything that is going to be above frost temps (high 30's etc) and where there is some cloud cover to avoid full sun (esp if its hot).

Sorry, I did not do a very good job of asking this question. What I am talking about are some very wide swings in the weather. This week we had dense fog all week long that did not burn off until after noon and cloud cover has been constant. Greenhouse “day” temperatures struggled to reach 70-75 all week long. After a front comes through with clear skies the temps return to normal and sunlight is a big change for the young plants. I was just wondering if there are any precautions to take with these wide swings in light intensity.
Oldude

Thats ok- at least half the time, its me being dense about understanding a question....:)


I wouldn't worry about it at all-no precautions needed. I assume that you have treated grhouse plastic and that will help filter the sun, plus the sun is not as strong now as it is in the late spring/summer. The sooner that you get your seedlings in full sun in the grhouse, the better. They won't shock at all. Most likely though, you will have to start watering a bit more (although you will get better roots, sturdier plants if you grow on the dry side) and you can also start to lightly fert them.

Hey oldude, I, too am from Louisiana, Alexandria, and was wondering when you will put your seedlings in the ground. I am sooooo ready to start my seeds, just wondering if it is too soon for our area. Thanks, Dona.

Dona
I try to get tomatoes planted the first or second week of March but the safest thing for me is to plant just before Easter. I usually have to cover the tomatoes a couple of times if planted early. I find that the quicker I get them in the ground the more they produce. Diseases come fairly early here. Everything else gets planted the third week of March. Since you are in the middle of the state you probably see frost a couple of weeks past us. Frost blankets / row covers work really well if you decide to plant early.
You may want to look at the Louisiana vegetable planting guide. Just go the LSU agcenter site and search. It is very helpful and gives recommended verities for our area.
If you can not find it let me know and I will post the link.
Oldude

"Hardening off" can be a tricky proposition, and I've found the trial and error truth of this! First thing I would caution about is if your GH has a uv protected coating, it makes a BIG difference! Didn't realize this the first year I had the GH, so I moved all my seedlings (6-8 hours of direct sun in the GH, 4 hrs of articial light) outside to experience a couple of hours of "real" sunshine. I thought they'd truly appreciate a couple of hours in "real" sunlight. Burnt them all to a frizzle-frazzle with just 2 hours exposure (like I mean GONE. Toasted). To make a long story of experimentation over the years short, here's what I've found works (so far...): I break my GH plants into 3 rough groups before I put them out: High, medium, and low light lovers. Then I move them all into a south-facing wooded area with the low-light lovers at the back under the most (almost total) shade; medium light lovers get a little more dappled sunlight, and the sun lovers get the front rows (but still "dappled"---no period of direct constant sunlight). A week later, I move the whole mess forward (south) 5 feet, so each group gets a little more light than they did the previous week, but still no direct sun for any of them. By the 4th week of this arduous procession, the sun-lovers are getting3-4 hours of direct sunlight and are responding accordingly. I plant them where they're going week 5, and they seem pretty content and grow like they are supposed to, with no sign of sunburn. Same with the others, although they never see full sunlight.
It's a real pain in the butt to have to move the plants (I'm talking 100's of containers), but I think the reason it's worked for me is Mother Nature her ownself is helping me out. When I first put the plants out (late March, early April) the sun is weaker, and the leaves of the overhead deciduous (hardwood)trees are smaller, so they let more (but weaker) sunlight actually reach the plants below. By the end of April, I've moved the "precious plants" forward enough that they can accept the sunlight because they've been adapting to it "naturally". How's that for a screwed up explanation of why something works? But it's worked for me for 10 yrs running...

LOL - I think it's a great explanation, Stono - it's easy to forget that temps are not the only thing the plants need to be hardened off to. Thanks!

They say misery loves company but somehow I do not feel better knowing that others are moving hundreds of pots on a daily basis. It is a lot of work. I often wished for a flat bed that I could just drive around. Trouble is, if it got easy I would want more and then the flat bed would not be enough. **sigh**

Now you've done it, Kathy! Made me start thinking about building a "platform on wheels" that I could hitch to the tractor and move ahead 5' each week in 2 minutes---as opposed to the hours it takes me moving them individually. Already got it designed in my head, complete with moveable watering system. (Don't worry, I'll never tell her where the idea came from!). So simple, so sensible. THANKS!

Sounds like you have a plan. Now just mass produce those things and put them in the marketplace. I think we just found you a cottage industry.