{"id":1081,"date":"2019-05-04T23:41:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T07:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makeitagarden.com\/?p=1081"},"modified":"2023-02-18T10:23:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T19:23:50","slug":"how-to-harden-off-your-flowers-the-easy-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/makeitagarden.com\/how-to-harden-off-your-flowers-the-easy-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Harden Off Your Flowers the Easy Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The practically effortless method you’ll love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How do you harden off your flowers? Do you carry them out onto the porch or back deck, only to bring them all back in a few hours later? If you’re like me, your flowers kind of take over the house for a few weeks during this acclimation process. They’re lined up against the living room window or sprawled across the kitchen table during this annual rite of Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Mom taught me how to harden off my flowers by leaving them outside for a few hours, but always bringing them back inside the house. It’s actually the traditional method. You leave them out a little longer each day, gradually increasing the exposure to the sun and wind until they’re thoroughly “hardened off”. (that applies to vegetables, too!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protect your investment: harden off your flowers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Hanging<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s not just about getting plants used to the outside temperature. That’s only part of it. Believe it or not, it’s exposure to the intense rays of the sun that’s most harmful to plants fresh home from the nursery. It’s tempting to set your trays and hanging baskets out on a bright sunny day thinking it’s good for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if your flowers are not properly hardened off, they could be seriously sunburned. They might not die, but a plant in a weakened condition could take the entire summer to fully recover. A sunburned plant will be hard pressed to produce a flower and that’s a serious set-back for us in Alaska where our summers are so short. The flowers you bring home from the greenhouse need to get accustomed to the sun. That procedure is commonly called “hardening off.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, I hated all that laborious in and out, in and out. Every day. In and out, in and out. Trays of lobelia, petunias, and geraniums commandeering prime real estate in the small duplex apartment where I lived at the time. I was so glad when it was finally over and I could hang my baskets and plant my pots. One day, the City’s local garden expert introduced us to an entirely different method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s to love about this method?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n