What is "out" and "in"

What is "early" mean. what time of day did you have them "out"

It is almost time to harvest cabbage.

Cabbage and cauliflower aren't typically veggies you grow during the summer. They don't like heat. Though I can't proclaim any knowledge of NJ gardening, that is my first guess. I plant mine as a spring and/or fall crop.

As above, aside from cabbage being a fall crop (or spring in a good coldframe), the "out" for me is under a row cover or pine tree, with not too much wind (hard around here).

Dan

Looking up all the information about cabbage for my zone, the package stated to start 4-6 weeks before the last frost, in doors. In saying I took the cabbage outside, I put it outside next to my steps which provide a decent amount of shade as well as protection from the wind. I kept the plants outside from around 7am to 10am give or take.

loribee and gardendawgie, when you folks were planting cabbage we were shoveling the first of many snowfalls. In zones 5 and 6, cabbage and other cole crops are commonly planted in the spring, and harvested early summer through the fall. Fall crops are not as feasible, as we have to plant during the hottest part of the season to get them to mature before cold weather shuts them down.

beckicz88, okay I had it all typed, then I read your second message, you placed them in the shade so they didn't sunburn from full sun exposure. If your other plants look good (especially the cucumbers, they always seem to burn for me the first time outside) and if the cauliflower look good, then the light was fine. How about moisture? Was the soil wet? dry? If you water from the top there could have been some root rot present that the increased stress of going outside resulted in wilting. Did the plants improve after you brought them back indoors?

Cybrczch, all of the other plants looked fine after bringing them in. The soil was moist, and I do water them from the top, so looks like that could be my reason.. They actually look completely dead at this point, I've started a few seeds over, but I think these are a lost cause.

It appears from what you describe that you rushed the hardening- off with delicate seedlings. When I take any seedlings into a "direct sun environment" for the first time I watch them every 15 minutes for the first few hours. At the first sign of wilting leaves or stems I take action to 1. Move plants into partial shade without cold wind, 2. Mist leaves with water and 3. Revisit in 15 minutes to see if plants are still wilting and need to be moved back to where they came from or to total darkness until they recooperate.

Hardening off IME is never a Once-and-Done operation. I have obseveved the reactions of certain seedlings like cabbage, broccoli and especially eggplant and repeated the process over and over again until plants seems to accept the conditions with only mild wilting. That is why an overcast day or two is an excellent opportunity to make the transition. Never-ever just move plants from inside growing to direct sunlight and ignore them for the rest of the day.