Do you have to harden off plants?

Begin hardening off on a still, cloudy day when temperatures are fairly steady. Water plants before they go outside. It’s a good idea to grow a few more plants than you need so you can hold some back just in case. Bought-in plants may also need hardening off, particularly if they have been kept in sheltered conditions.Click to see full answer. Also to know is, what happens if you don’t harden off plants?If you don’t harden your plants, the tender plants will get burned by the sun, the shock of cold, or the wind. Some plants may recover from burn (even fully), but their growth will be set back a few weeks while they recover.Additionally, how do you harden off a plant? Here’s what to do: Check your seedlings’ frost dates. Stop indoor watering or fertilizing. Choose your first hardening off spot. Place your seedlings outside for an hour. Move your plants back indoors. Lengthen the hardening off time. Protect your seedlings as needed. Extend nighttime hardening off hours. Correspondingly, when can I harden off plants? Hardening off should take a minimum of a week and may take up to two. Suddenly moving plants from a stable environment to one with wide variations in temperature, light and wind can seriously weaken plants. For most plants, start hardening off about a week before the final frost date for your area.Do you have to harden off tomato plants?About 7-10 days before planting them outdoors, help acclimate them to temperatures, sunlight, and wind. This process is called “hardening off.” Without hardening off, your tomatoes are more susceptible to sunburn, windburn, and breakage.