Hardening Off Dawn Redwood - Day 117

Aside from the rain these past two days the weather has been beautiful and it is about time to get my seedlings outside. Even though it may not seem like a big deal to move these plants less than 100 feet, when a plant is moved from indoors to outside it is really being introduced to a completely new environment. It can be a real shock to the trees (or any plant) if it is not done carefully and in a gradual manner. This process is called hardening off, and it can take between one and two weeks to complete. During this time the plant will be placed outdoors in increased amounts of time and will adapt to the change in sunlight, wind, temperature fluctuation, and a bunch of other outdoor environment changes. I once saw a schedule when the gardener moved their seedlings outside for 15 minutes on the first day and then doubled the time every day until they were out for 8 hours, the next day they were left out for good. I want to be careful since these are my first seedlings and this seems a bit too aggressive and it does not account for the move into full sunlight. Here is the schedule I am using, I’m currently on Day 4:

Day 1: 15 minutes in shade

Day 2: 30 minutes in shade

Day 3: 1 hour in shade (Couldn’t find sunlight if I wanted it yesterday)

Day 4: 2 hours in shade (I would have liked to get a half hour in the sun, but it is overcast today)

Day 5: 2 1/2 hours in shade, 1/2 hour in sun

Day 6: 3 hours in shade, 1 hour in sun

Day 7: 4 hours in shade, 2 hours in sun

Day 8: 5 hours in shade, 3 hours in sun

Day 9: 6 hours in shade, 4 hours in sun

Day 10: 6 hours in shade, 6 hours in sun

Day 11: 14 hours in sun location

Day 12: 16 hours in sun location

A couple of clarifications here, the steps to my apartment are in the shade for most of the day, this will be my shady location, while the table in the backyard will be in direct sunlight for most of the day. I certainly don’t receive anywhere near 14 to 16 hours of sunlight so there is no need to move the trees twice on the last couple days. The final thing that I have not mentioned yet is a reduction of watering during this period. They will certainly need to be watered during this period, but it is recommended to do this less frequently.