If you start your own plants inside from seeds, they will be pretty wimpy compared to seeds that started their life outside.
Here’s what my milkweed looks like without hardening off.
Here’s the hardening off schedule I am going to try.
- May 4 – Leave in shade all day
- Put out in sunshine for 1 hour
- Put in sunshine for 2 hours
- Put in sunshine for 3 hours.
- Sunshine for 4 hours Had to bring plants inside because of possible night frost.
- Sunshine 5 hours
- May 11 – Put on back patio – faces east – gets about 6 hours of sun per day
- May 12 – still on back patio – gets sun from 7 am to 1 pm. Milkweed shows minimal damage.
Butterfly Gardening 