The most stressful part of sprouting my own flowers from seed indoors is hardening them off. The process is not difficult, but I worry about the plants like they were little people. I’ve nutured them for the last 3 months in a controlled environment and now I have to release them into the cold cruel world.
When you harden off plants, you gradually introduce them to the sun and the wind. You start out slowly by putting them in the shade and gradually adding more hours of sunlight each day. If you try to hurry the process along too quickly you can end up giving your plants an unsightly sunburn and possibly stunting their growth. They are also not used to the cooler temperatures at night. I usually put my flats of plants in our screen porch or garage at night for the first week of the hardening-off process until the plants have toughened up a bit.
The first year I hardened off my plants I put the flats loose in the yard and moved them around from shade to sun. One day I came back from running errands to find a gigantic rabbit sitting on top of a flat of plants having the best picnic of his life. After that, I decided I needed a temporary fence around the plants or I wouldn’t have any peace of mind.
For the next several years I used chicken wire fencing held up by bamboo stakes. It wasn’t fun to put up, but it kept out the rabbits and frolicking squirrels. I used shade cloth and a lot of clothespins to give the plants some cover from the sun. The only bad thing was, on days when rain was predicted, I would have to take down the shade cloth or it would tear in the wind and get pounded by the rain. It was exhausting to always be constructing and deconstructing, and we couldn’t mow our lawn in that area for several weeks so the grass would get very long.
This year I discovered a line of pop-up greenhouses that are a dream come true for me. They are made of waterproof polyethylene material that can withstand winds up to 60 miles per hour. I chose the Starterhouse model. It’s supposed to hold 16 flats of plants, but I find 12 is more reasonable.
They come in a carrying case and pop open in a flash. They are held down by tent stakes so I can move them around the lawn from shady to sunny areas. They can also quickly be taken down when it’s time to mow the lawn.
They have 2 zip-up vents on either side for good air circulation (held by velcro strips):
You can also zip open the entire enclosure as the plants get more accustomed to the sun’s rays:
They come with a custom-fit black shade cloth with loops that can be secured with the tent stakes.
When the Starterhouse is entirely zipped up, the temperature inside can run up to 12 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. That’s been particularly helpful for me this year with our chilly spring. I was afraid I’d have to wait another week or two before bringing up the plants from the basement this year, but thanks to these nifty greenhouses I’m right on schedule.
Now I don’t have to worry about marauding animals, sudden rainstorms or raw spring days. I wish I’d known about these greenhouses years ago!