That would be a waste of seeds as well as your time and effort, right? If it’s severe, the plants likely will die because this interferes with the leaves’ ability to conduct photosynthesis. If the sunburn is mild, the plants will recover after this setback. I don’t recall how I forgot to harden off those seedlings but they obviously weren’t ready to deal with bright sunshine. Those crispy white patches on the leaves are a plant’s version of sunburn, which is also called leaf scorch. If you transplant your seedlings directly into the garden rather than helping them slowly acclimate to the intensity of the sun, they will look like the plants in the photo below. Whether you start your seedlings under grow lights or on a sunny windowsill, the fact is that neither of those sources of light are as intense as direct sunlight. Before we can transplant them out into the garden, there is one final step that is absolutely crucial to your plants’ success: the hardening-off process. We gardeners feel pretty proud of ourselves – and rightly so – when our seed-starting skills result in some nice-looking seedlings. It’s a great skill to learn, you can grow varieties that are hard to find in garden centers and it’s quite economical. Seed-starting is one of my favorite gardening activities. I even provide an alternate method in case you work full-time, since the standard method can be challenging if you’re not home much. You’ll learn how toughen up your little seedlings. It’s really important to acclimate them to the intensity of sunlight before transplanting them in your garden. If you’re not familiar with the concept of hardening-off, this applies to any plants you’ve started indoors from seed. For this week’s garden column, I discuss why hardening-off seedlings is so important. Last week, I wrote about the correct timing of starting tomato plants from seed.
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