PNW February 2012

No worries Furbalsmom! Tone of voice is impossible to convey in here, so when reading posts I just give everyone the benefit of the doubt and presume they were being nice. I can see by your follow-up that my presumptions were not unfounded.

So yeah, I just wanted to share what I'd learned and see what people thought about it. I myself didn't say I'd try it, just that I was intrigued. I have no hardening off experiences to compare it to if I did try it, actually. I don't know how I'm going to handle it yet. Then again, If I don't ever get any seeds started I won't have to worry about it!

Debs, wow! Hope you got to get dirty today. No seed starting for me after all. Tuesdays are my busy day anyway, and with it being Valentine's Day I also had to visit daughter's school for her class party and I have a special dinner and dessert planned that I'm already late starting on, so it was optimistic to think I even had a chance anyway. I'm sitting here with a squirmy baby that I really needed to take an afternoon nap so I could get started, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen so I best get off the computer and go to plan B. (Plan C is leftovers and no dessert).

@Debs ....... No, you're NOT full of raw Compost!!!!

I suppose you're right in a sense that holding back the H2O some to train the plant to be more tolerant to that "type" of stress is a good thing. For a more mature plant I can see that works; but on seedlings? There actually are situations or "treatments" to with-hold H2O to stress a plant for a real purpose. The one that comes to mind is to promote the plant to flower or fruit up. Seedling are too fragile for this kind of treatment. Mature plants, if they think they are dying, will put all their energy into fruiting (to reproduce). So there are some situations where deliberately stressing the plant is something you want to do. I just don't think you want to put your seedlings at a disadvantage. In the case if seedlings, the purpose of "hardening off", is to prepare them for the transplant in the out door beds. To gradually expose them, before hand, to the out door environment. So they are not "shocked" by an ex-stream change in temperature. That kind of temperature shock IS a form of "stress" which if ex-stream enough will kill the young plant or if not will stunt it. "Hardening off" is about acclimatising the plant to cooler temperatures.

@gwenifer ........ I can't imagine bringing a seedling to the point of "wilting" (as the instructor suggested?) as a method to make a plant more drought tolerant. Something more of an approach with moderation would be OK. Just not a full wilting of a seedling. Actually that's not really good for even a mature plant.

@furbalsmom ........ Actually, "hardening off" (subjecting a plant/seedling to cooler temperatures) IS a "tried" and "true" method with seedlings. It is not about trying to stress the plant/seedlling!!!! It's about acclimating the plant. Severe stressing of a plant is NOT a good thing.

Lastly, where in the heck is Boffer? I see he's been online. Guess I'll have to search a little harder to see what he's been upto.

---Dave