![]() ![]() When are lettuce seedlings ready to go outside? There’s nothing more annoying than trying to weed rows where lettuce has barely germinated. This will make plant care and maintenance and easy task. Transplanting lettuce seedlings gives you the opportunity to prepare the soil and clear it of weeds beforehand. By transplanting lettuce seedlings, and keeping some spare seedlings always on hand, we can easily fill up these spots in the garden. That’s how we end up with empty patches in our gardens. Others germinate only to get eaten or dampen off. Whether we’re dealing with old seeds, waterlogged soil, slugs or other nuisances, we all have losses with our seedlings. With transplanting, you just pop the lettuce seedlings in the ground 10 inches apart and you’re good to go. With direct sowing, you often need to do some extra sowing, followed by thinning to get the exact positioning you want. Head lettuce varieties need room to grow and expand. An early crop of lettuce leaves sounds fantastic during the hungry gap. You’ll be able to transplant your lettuce seedlings at an advanced stage of growth – while the lettuce sown outside will be barely emerging from the ground. So why go through all the hassle of tending to lettuce seedlings for weeks to come? The answer is simple: growing head lettuce requires different conditions than growing loose-leaf lettuce.īy starting head lettuce seedlings indoors or undercover you will: Often times you don’t even need to thin loose-leaf lettuce, since the stronger seedlings tend to suppress the smaller seedlings from growing. You just sprinkle the seeds in rows and you’re good to go. Growing lettuce directly in the ground is easy, especially when setting it up for the “ cut-and-come-again” method. Allow for 7-10 days of hardening off before moving outside. The earliest time to do this is 3-4 weeks before the last frost, but you can transplant lettuce any time after that. You should transplant lettuce outside after it has grown undercover for 4-6 weeks, and reached the height of 2-3 inches. Should you sow it directly in the ground or try starting it in trays? Does lettuce transplant well? When and how to transplant it? We’ll do our best to answer these questions (and many more), to help you give lettuce a head start. Lettuce is one of those favorite vegetables that we’re all excited to grow come spring.īut if you’re new to gardening, you might have a lot of questions about growing lettuce. This means you can cheat the cold weather and start seeds under cover where they can comfortably germinate. ![]() If you have a greenhouse, polytunnel, or indoor grow light setup, you’re already luckier than most gardeners. As an Amazon Associate earns from qualifying purchases. They may be left outside overnight if the temperature will not fall below 50° F.This post contains affiliate links. Cucumbers and melons will stop growing if hardened too severely. For example, cauliflower will produce thumb-sized heads and fail to develop further. If carried to the extreme of actually stopping plant growth, significant damage can be done to certain crops. ![]() The hardening process is intended to slow plant growth.After proper hardening, tomato plants can usually tolerate light and unexpected frosts with minimum damage.A cold frame provides an excellent environment for hardening off transplants.Reduce the frequency of watering to slow plant growth, but don’t allow plants to wilt.Even cold-hardy plants will be hurt if exposed to freezing temperatures before they are hardened. Don’t put tender seedlings outdoors on windy days or when temperatures are below 45° F.Each day, increase the amount of sunlight the transplants receive. The easiest way to harden transplants is to place them outside in a shaded, protected spot on warm days, bringing them in at night.Begin hardening transplants 1-2 weeks prior to setting out plants in your garden.It encourages a change from soft, succulent growth to a firmer, harder growth. It enables your transplants to withstand the changes in environmental conditions they will face when planted outside in the garden. Hardening is the process of exposing transplants (seedlings) gradually to outdoor conditions. ![]()
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