I work also so likewise don't have the luxury of gradually increasing the length of full daylight each day. I basically use 2 methods and sometimes a mixture of both. Before I had the cold frames I would put them on the north side of my house where they receive little if any full strength sun. Then when I get home I move them out in the full evening sun starting for 30 minutes or so and gradually increase each evening. This has worked well for several years. Starting 2 years ago after I built the cold and hot frames I started using them. The advantage is I don't have to move them inside on cool nights unless it is going to get real cold. One frame has tinted glass and that works well. On the frames with clear glass I lay shade cloth over the top. Then when I'm around I will open the tinted frame and give the plants some full sun and just pull the shade cloth back on the frames with clear glass. Again I just gradually increase the amount of full sun each day till they have adjusted to it.

Personally I wouldn't leave them out in full sun 2-3 hours the first day. I have my light shelves in a utility room. A few days before I intend to move mine out I will start leaving the windows cracked open so they can get adjusted somewhat to the outside temps. I only close the windows if it is going to get real cold. The same once a plant goes outside. If on the north side of the house I don't move them back inside unless the temps are going to drop below the upper 40's. These methods have worked well for me. I'm sure some others will come along and share theirs. We each have to find what will work for us in our lives and gardens. Jay

That's what I'd do. I had the luxury, last week, of being off for spring break. And, we had some overcast days, so I could break them in very gradually and gently. When in doubt advance more slowly.

George
Tahlequah, OK

I move mine outside for 1-2 hours the first day on my shaded front porch. Then for maybe 2-3 hours the second day, and then all day the 3rd day. The next few days I put them in partial shade for 2 to 3 days to see how they do. If they do fine, I will expose them to full sun for a couple hours, increasing the length of time over about 4-5 days. That's why I prefer winter sowing, but I went back to light set ups this year. Next year, I'll probably do winter sowing again, because you don't have to do all that hardening off. It sure is a pain, and while some believe it is a worthwhile pain, I don't, and sometimes my memory isn't so good and I forget and leave the tender little things out too long.

Even a full shade exposure outdoors is more light than they have been getting indoors under the light setups. So, that is why you don't want to thrust them into full sun right away.

Susan

When I worked, I would start hardening off before the weekend so I could accelerate it over the weekend.

For example, you could put them outside on the porch or patio for an hour on Wed., two hours on Thursday and three hours on Friday. It doesn't matter if you work days or nights....the one hour can come at any time, even in total darkness. The idea is merely to expose them to the wind movement. If the hour can be in sunlight, of course that is better, even if it is dim, weak late afternoon or early morning sunlight. Any exposure is better than no exposure at all.

Or, you could adopt Jay's idea if you work days and have an east-facing or north-facing covered porch where the plants could receive a little morning light but not too much. Sometimes I put my hardening-off plants on the east-facing front porch on their first couple of days, and I place them far enough back (closer to the wall of the house than to the sunnier edge of the porch) that they just catch an hour or so of sun the first day. Then, the second day, I move them closer to the edge of the porch so they get a couple of hours of sun, then on the third day, even closer...so maybe they get 3 or 3.5 hours of sun. Because of the location of shrubs and trees, nothing on my front porch is going to get more than 3.5 hours of sun....so to get them 4 hours on the 4th day and 5 hours on the fifth, I move them to a south-facing porch. It has an oak tree west of it, so they'll get morning and mid-day sun but not late afternoon sun. See....that's how you do it....work with your location, your sun/shade exposure and aim for a gradual increase every day. Be prepared, though, to backslide by moving them back into a protected area if extremely strong winds are forecast. For your plants, anything over about 20 mph can really beat them up. On days with wind like that, I sometimes put the plants on the sunporch where they get sun but not wind, or I park a vehicle directly on the south side of them, for example, if the wind is blowing hard out of the south. With creative positioning, you can overcome anything Mother Nature throws at your plants, except for hail. (With little rain in the forecast, I suspect hail won't interfere with hardening off your plants.)

Anyhow...if you can get them an hour a day the first day, then add 1 more hour each day, if you start at mid-week, then by Saturday they can handle between 3 and 5 hours. It is variable depending on how high the temperatures go and how hard the wind blows. Then, on Sunday, you probably could give them 2 hours more than they got on Saturday, so between 5 and 7 hours. On Monday, you can place them where they'll get an hour more than on Sunday, etc. After they're used to 8 to 10 hours of sunlight and wind, they can go into the ground or their containers if you're growing them in pots.

The key is to remember that windburn will hurt them (and can kill them) as easily, or even more easily, than sunlight, so be sure to shelter them from the wind. They need gradual increases in the amount of light and wind they're exposed to. In March, it can be very hard to harden off the plants because the wind just rages some days.

When I worked, I aimed for this schedule:

Mon.-Tues.---out on a fully shaded screened-in porch where they had protection from light and wind but had some wind movement through the screens.

Wed.---plants on shady screened-in porch all day, then out on front porch in full sun for one hour after I arrived home around 4 p.m.

Thurs.---plants on shady screened-in porch all day, then out on front porch in full sun for two hours after I arrived home around 4 p.m.

Fri.---plants on shady screened-in porch all day, then out on front porch in full sun for three hours after I arrivedhome around 4 p.m. Obviously, at the time of the year I was hardening off plants, the sun went down before 7 p.m. but they got all the sun they could before it went down and they still got the wind exposure which is important too.

Sat.---I'd set them out on the front porch as soon as sun hit the porch in the morning, and leave them there 4 to 5 hours assuming they could tolerate the wind, then move them back to the shady screened-in porch on the north side of the house.
Sun.---I'd set them out on the front porch as soon as sun hit the porch in the morning, and leave them there about 1.5 hours longer than whatever time they were out on Sat., so from 5.5 to 6.5 hours, and then move them back to the shady porch again.

Mon.---This always was the riskiest day because I had to go back to work. I'd put the plants on the south-facing front porch, up close to the house so the strong March winds wouldn't beat them up too much. It helped that a tree in the front yard blocked some of the strong March winds. Sometimes I'd put a heavy lawn chair (it needs to be heavy enough the wind won't blow it over onto the plants) to their west to partially block late-afternoon sun. They'd get sun from sunup util I got home from work, which was about 4 p.m. Sometimes, if it was a very hot day or a very windy day, I'd rush home at lunch time and move them back to the sheltered screened-in porch. I had just enough time at lunch to rush home, move the plants, and rush back to work....but I didn't have time to eat lunch!

Tuesday---By now, they'd been going outside for a week so I'd leave them out all day, but I always used strategic placement to try to put them where they had good shelter from the wind and some shade, even if it was only for a day or two.

It isn't easy to harden off plants outside when you work, but you can do it. You just have to figure out how to work with the sunny areas and shady areas on your property.

Remember they have to get used to not only the wind and the sun, but also temperature changes. They've been grown in fairly stable conditions indoors, so they need to learn to adapt to temperatures that move up and then back down as the day goes on.

Some years, if it is very windy, even though I am here all day and could move them, I put them on the front porch is mostly shade or on the sunporch far enough back from the windows that they are fully shaded, for up to a week. That week builds up their tolerance to wind and to changing temperatures before they have to deal with sunlight too.

In the spring, I start every day moving plants out into the sun, and then moving them back inside later in the day as needed. Because I'm in a rural area, I then have to move all the flats back inside before sunset or the deer and rabbbits will have a tomato plant buffet. (Once the greenhouse is finished, that won't be an issue anymore.)

I know this is long, but I wanted to give a detailed description of how I have worked with the sun/shade/wind exposures I've had at our different homes, and how I did it back in the day when I worked. It is a lot harder when you work, but you can do it.

Dawn

Thanks. You guys have answered most of my questions. I think I'll try moving them out & see how it goes. Hopefully they'll start perking up some & not be all spindly like they were last year.