Hardening Off Baby Plants

 Check this out!  A tiny little pepper bud!

I haven't shown you guys my plants in a little while.  This is pretty amazing stuff.  A couple weeks ago I moved them to the garage.  They were starting to make the house a little stinky.  Sounds weird, but it's true!  It took me several days to figure out what the smell was.  I think it was a combination of wet dirt and tomato plant.  Whatever the case, it's gone now.  And the little guys are just as happy out there.

Now it's time to get them ready for the garden.
This is called "hardening off."

On a side note, that's what Jacob's been going through lately, too.  Living in the cozy safety of home for so long, it takes a little gradual transition to adjust to the great big world.  So he's been going to UK with his dad each morning and doing his school work at the university library.  He's actually starting to like it!


OK, back to plants.

 So, what I've been doing is giving them just a few hours of shady outside for a few days.  Then I'm gradually moving them into morning sun for a couple of hours each day.

 It was amazing how unprepared they were.  The first day I set them out there, they totally collapsed under the shock.  I had to bring them right back in to their cozy little fluorescent-light home.











Now they're getting used to it.  They still wilt really fast.  I guess they're wimpier than they look!

Some of these are huge!

They can't go into the garden until after "Derby Day."  I think that's May 1.  So we've been getting that ready for them.  Some will move into raised beds and others will go into the regular ground.  I'm curious to see the difference in production.  I transplanted some into big cups, some small and some into peat pots.  I definitely think the big cups are the ticket.  But we'll see what happens in the long run.

Here's a link to the rules for hardening off, it you were curious.  And another. 

And here's my experiment plant.

I wanted to see how they'd do in a windowsill rather than under artificial lights.

Well, although I enjoy seeing them there, they definitely don't grow as well.


I'll stick with the shop lights.







Oh!  I almost forgot...

Sukey is a Mama!  She's doing great and looks much happier.

The four little kittens are happy, too.
 
Yay for kitties!
 





Yay for living in the country!