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Hardening off pepper plants is a critical series of steps that helps your young plants slow acclimate to their transition from needy babies in the greenhouse to mature, more self-sufficient pepper plants outdoors. Thankfully, it’s easy to harden off pepper plants when you know how.
If you’ve already gone through our sweet pepper growing guide, then you know that we always start our peppers from seeds, but even if you buy starts, you’ll still need to go through the hardening off stage before the plants are ready to be moved outside.
Follow our tried-and-tested simple method for hardening off pepper plants the right way to avoid stressing the plants and help them become strong, productive plants that give you loads of lovely fruit all season.
What Is Hardening Off?
Because most of us start our pepper seeds indoors to extend the growing season and get the healthiest, biggest harvests, the young plants don’t get exposed to the harshness of the outdoor environment.If you move them straight from their gentle indoor home to the harsh outdoors, they won’t cope. They’ll be stressed, end up stunted, or may even die off.
That’s where hardening off comes in.
Hardening off is an easy process that takes a few days and helps your pepper plants adjust and transition from their previously sheltered life to life in the great outdoors.
Pepper plants indoors have a carefully controlled environment and don’t experience wind, dramatic temperature fluctuation, too much direct sunlight, heavy rain, or wild animal raids.
So it follows that you can’t just throw them outside and expect them to cope. You need to help them acclimate slowly if you want heathy plants and a big harvest.
Not hardening off your peppers can weaken them and leave them susceptible to diseases. You may notice pepper leaves turning yellow or peppers with black spots.
How Long Does Hardening Off Take?
Hardening off pepper plants properly takes 2 to 4 weeks. Some people recommend hardening off young pepper plants in just a few days, but that really doesn’t give the plants long enough to properly acclimate.
It’s better to take the extra time now and enjoy a longer, more productive growing season with more peppers coming off your plants than you know what to do with!
When to Move Pepper Plants Outdoors
When to move peppers outdoors depends on when you planted them, the temperature in your area, and how big the pepper plants are.
As a general rule, pepper seedlings are ready to plant outside once night time temperatures are high enough that all danger of frost has passed, usually in mid spring. Ideally, night time temperatures should be above 55°F (13°C) and day time temperatures should be above 65°F (18°C).
Top Tips for Hardening Off Peppers
If you’re growing peppers, you can help strengthen them and prepare them to face the outdoor elements early by starting the hardening off process super-early, indoors. And, when you are slowly acclimating them to the outdoors, there are a few different things you can do to make the process more effective.
Here are my top tips for getting your pepper plants hardening off the right way for the best results.
Mimic the Wind
Any time after your pepper seeds germinate, you can encourage them to grow strong roots and stems by setting up a fan to gently move air across the seedlings. You’re essentially mimicking a really light breeze, which may not seem like much, but it really does help your young plants grow strong and sturdy and reduces the risk of transplant shock when you move them outside.
Just remember to use an oscillating fan so that the air movement isn’t constant and moves around, just like an actual breeze.
You can also run your fingers gently through the tops of the pepper seedlings, which also simulates the movement of wind.
Having a fan in the greenhouse also helps to improve airflow and reduce fungal problems like damping off.
Crack a Window
Cracking a window occasionally, if you know the inside temperature will stay above 55°F helps to acclimate your young seedlings to natural temperature fluctuations.
Start Hardening Off Peppers in the Shade
Because their environment up to this point has been tightly controlled, your peppers won’t have been exposed to direct sunlight yet. So, when you first start the hardening off process, set your plants in the shade only for the first 2 to 3 days. If you stick them straight into direct sunlight, they won’t cope and will likely burn and die.
Avoid Too Much Wind
Even if you’ve been using an oscillating fan to strengthen your young peppers, they won’t be sturdy enough to tolerate too much strong wind just yet. Either put them in a well-protected spot or avoid setting them outside on very windy days early on.
Elevate Those Pots
If you grow peppers or anything else, you’ll already know that a young pepper plant or bean, pea, or cabbage plant is irresistible to all kinds of pests, from rabbits and mice to slugs. And leaving the pots on the ground is like ringing the dinner bell for all these critters who will happily devour the tender plants, leaving nothing but a little bit of stem behind.
So raise them up off the ground and set them on a wall or a table and preferably somewhere that you can keep an eye on them, too.
Create Shade
If you don’t have an obvious shady spot or you’re moving your young peppers to a full sun location, they’ll burn quickly, so it’s a good idea to make some shade for them. A floating row cover or a shade cloth are easy solutions to create partial shade.
Carry On With Pepper Maintenance
During the hardening off period, we still water, fertilize, and transplant the pepper plants whenever they need it. Nothing changes during this stage other than that you are helping them transition to their final position. And, if you haven’t already done so, if your plants are big enough to harden off, then you should start pruning them.
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How to Harden Off Peppers, Step By Step
1. Days 1 to 3: Short periods in the shade
On the first day, choose a shaded, sheltered spot and leave your pepper plants outside for no more than two hoursOn days two and three, increase the time to 3 and 4 hours, respectively.
2. Days 4 to 14: Increase outdoor time and sun exposure
Over the next 10 days or so, you can increase their outdoor time until they can happily sit outside most of the day.On day 4 or 5, move the peppers into direct sunlight for just 10 to 20 minutes then put them back in the shade. Slowly increase their sun exposure a little each day by 10 to 20 minutes.
Just keep a close watch for wilting, drooping, and sunscald. If you notice any drooping, curling, or browning leaves, move the peppers back to the shade right away and reduce sun exposure the next day before increasing again.
3. Leave Plants Out Overnight
Once temperatures are consistently above 55°F overnight and the peppers have been hardening off for around 14 days, they should be strong enough to stay outdoors overnight.
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4. Transition to Their Final Position
Once the pepper plants have managed to stay outside overnight for around a week with no signs of ill health, you should be able to plant them out in their final position with no risk of transplant shock.
FAQs About Hardening Off Pepper Plants
Yes, you really do need to harden off pepper plants if you started them inside and want to move them outdoors. While inside, they’re tender and weak, so they need to gradually toughen up by being exposed to the outdoors in short bursts. This helps to avoid transplant shock and ensures your plants will produce peppers in larger quantities.
If you don’t bother hardening them off, your pepper plants will get burned by direct sunlight, shocked by the wind and the cold, and many will die or only offer small harvests. It’s definitely worth taking the time to get them used to outdoor conditions.
Yes, you can harden off peppers in the rain as long as they’ve already been exposed to some outdoor conditions for at least two or three days. If so, then a little light rain is very good for them, as it helps to prepare them for heavier rainfall after they’re planted out in their final position.