What a colorful basket of tomatoes, Melissa! I am in such different growing conditions, but i'm sure you'll be doing the same dance, i don't know if it's a waltz or a two-step, with me it sometimes looks like a break dance, dragging those babies in-and-out til they get toughened up enough.

Someone posted this a while back, and it does a nice job of describing what the plants need to do and how to help them.

Hope this year works out better!

Lynn

Here is a link that might be useful: hardening off transplants

instar

You beat me to it -- that's the site I was going to post! I think it's the best I've seen on the internet.

azhotdog

If your sun isn't too bright and glaring maybe an hour first time out will be okay, but I think I'd keep the first time at 15 minutes and do 15 minutes increments daily, even on overcast days.

What I do when they're ready is leave mine in the shade for several days under a table on the deck. The diffused natural light reaching them is MUCH stronger than my inside lights. Then I gradually move them out where they get some of that sun and bring them back overnight. This is an entirely different way to harden off the plants that accomplishes the same thing.

Anyway, we'll keep our fingers crossed for you. The first time hardening off plants can be a challenge, but the more you understand about the process, the safer your plants will be.

Hardening off is relatively easy. When I used to sow indoors (eons back. ick) the seedlings did need to be hardened off but I worked all doay long and couldn't be there to take them in after a few hours. I wound up using a laundry basket over the flats and that worked great. It's now an FAQ at GW in the Growing From Seed Forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Hardening Off Method.

Thank you for your responses. I had read some of it before, but I really enjoyed the way those posts were written. The plants sit in a bay window that gets filtered sun for most of the day and direct afternoon sun for about an hour or so.

Lynn...my goal was LOTS of different colors with not much red.

Anney...there is nothing about AZ sunlight reflected off our pool that isn't hot and glaring (LOL) on a daily basis. These seedlings have had that through the window since day 1.

Trudi...that might actually work very well here in Scottsdale since the day temps are pretty much in the 60's and nighttime temps in the 40-50's. (BTW...I got some of these seeds from you, thanks!)

I just don't want to kill anything. I've put so much time into them...my kids have started calling them my babies.

AZ, I expect you'll have success, but life happens, or sometimes it doesn't ;-( so anytime you need more seeds you're welcome to request more.

T

azhotdog, hardening off this time of year in AZ is easy. Thing is, you have to harden off for the cooler temps at night, not for daylight, since right now our temps are very rarely over 72. Leave the plants outside in the sunlight all day--just go ahead and do it. It isn't that strong or hot this time of year to cause any harm. No need to gradually lengthen the time outside during the day. However, to harden them off, start leaving the plants outside after sundown, first for an hour or two, leading up to bringing them in when you go to bed. Put them in the garage if it's warmer than outside but cooler than the house. Finally one night when the low temp is forecast to be above 40 and dry all night, just leave 'em out. You're done. They are ready to put into the ground. Mine are already out, although I do use Wall o' Waters to protect them through mid-March. Good luck!

Russ,
That makes more sense to me than worrying about the daytime. What are you doing this year to protect them from the crazy rains we are having? The ones we had last week would have pummeled the plants to death, even through protection. Do they walls of water provide that kind of protection for them as well?

What varieties have you found to grow well in Tucson?

Thanks,
Melissa

Good articles and advice. I am glad to read them as I have lost plants over the years to wind, etc. and never knew some of that info. I did do something else last year, which seemed to work well and I felt like I had stronger plants. I live in an old farmhouse and after the plants were up and starting to grow, I took them to an unheated upstairs. A couple times I did have to find a heat source, but most of the time they just sat in front of the window and had it warm if the sun was out. It was pretty cool at night and on cloudy days. Now, reading the article I can see where it really might have helped them get stronger. I do think it took a little bit longer for them to get big, but I always start them too early anyway. The best part was that it kept them out of my husband's hair! This year I am going to add a fan. The little guys will be so strong and tough! I can't wait to try the laundry basket. What a great idea!

Melissa... the Wall O Waters have done well for protecting against wind and heavy rain. Some moisture gets in, but that's fine. I use the Gardeneer brand called "Season Starters." There's a link to where I buy mine.

Just about any tomato variety can grow in Tucson, but you'll get more mileage out of early and mid season varieties, and you really have to get things in the ground by mid-February. All your fruit set must take place before the daily 95+ degrees set in. Unless you do some serious shading July through September, you'll have nothing. Even then, shading does nothing for the night temps which are also generally too high July - Sept for fruit set. I haven't had much better performance from the allegedly "heat set" varieties, plus their flavor isn't the finest. "Heatwave" was one of the better ones. Some varieties do tolerate the heat better and will push through a little longer before shutting down production: Moskvich, Gary'O Sena, Break O'Day (these first three are early or early mid and will give you the most fruit over the short season), Brandy Boy, Big Beef, Heidi, Boondocks, Burgundy Traveler, Mexico and most cherry types. Bees help greatly. Plant a basil bush or two near your tomatoes to attract bees. This year, after I've harvested all the ripe fruit come July, I'm cutting everything back to a nub to let it carefully regrow in hopes of a fall harvest. I'll post the results of my experiment next winter. There are all kinds of threads here about desert tomato planting. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Good Source for Wall O Waters