BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Gardening Growing Carnations from Seed

I have some carnations starting to sprout and the seed packet said to "harden them off" before transplanting. Can anyone tell me what this is?? Thanx in advance!
Angi H,
Louisville, KY

Hi Angi
What it means is that you have to let the little seedlings get used to the outside air temperature.

If you put them straight into the garden without letting them get used to outside conditions, they will get cold shock and though this may not kill them it will retard their growth for a while.
It is like us going from a centrally heated house to one with no heating at all - it takes us a while to adjust! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
The best thing is to put them outside on a sunny day in an open topped box to protect them from the wind and cold or in a sheltered spot and bring them in again as the sun goes down.
After about ten days of this depending on how cold your weather is they will be ready to plant out.

Hellie
English Garden
Walking