05/02/2026
✨ Hardening off you plants ✨
If you’re an avid gardener, you know it’s important to harden off your starts before planting them in the ground.
For those new to gardening (flowers and/or veggies), hardening off your plants means you slowly acclimate them to life outdoors. Over the course of 7-10 days you will slowly expose them to more and more light and outdoor temperatures until they’re finally out for 24 hours.
Sudden exposure to sunlight can burn your plants that you’ve babied for the month or two. The UV rays from the sun differ from those of grow lights, which is why it’s necessary to slowly expose the baby seedlings to real sunlight.
The other culprit that typically gets overlooked? Soil temperature. Most of our homes are between 60-70 degrees. Taking those baby plants from their warm cozy trays indoors, straight to cold soil will certainly shock them. Therefore, hardening off your seedlings also helps with what’s going on below ground!
The University at Albany has a useful tool to estimate your soil temperature. You can always use a soil thermometer, or even a meat thermometer if you have a spare! Remember though, your raised beds can differ in temperature. If your planting dahlia tubers this spring, it’s best to wait until the soil is 50 degrees 😁
https://www.nysmesonet.org/weather/maps
