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When to Harden Off Seedlings?

Nepenthesis

Formerly known as Pineapple
When is the accepted age/size to harden off seedlings? I have a few Nepenthes seedlings that are over an inch and about a year old (some 8 months old, still an inch) and I'm worried that the high humidity and standing water in the terrarium combined with the crud growing in there will give them root rot.

Are there steps to hardening off seedlings? Are there things I should avoid, like repotting during the process? Or should I repot? Is there a big risk of death during this process?
 
I do not have a huge amount of experience growing Neps from seed, but I do have a good deal of experience with acclimating many other genera of plants to a wide variety of settings. In fact, I just went through hardening some awesome Nep seedlings from Whimgrinder to the conditions of my greenhouses at work. The process took about 3 weeks, and he can probably remember better how old they were at the time (not at work to check the labels)... they vary in size but are generally 1" in diameter. When I got the plants, they were bare-rooted. I immediately potted them, fed them lightly at 1/16 tsp per gal strength to stimulate the formation of root hairs. If they lack any nutrition at all root hair formation will be limited. Good feeding minimizes transplant shock.

Next I put them into a humidity dome and watching them meticulously. After about a week I began propping it up more and more (punching holes is also recommended, but remember you can't easily reverse this!) until I saw no desiccation. Things like the pitcher lids closing and the leaves losing turgidity were my signs to keep the humidity high. It took 2-3 weeks for them to tolerate the new lower humidity conditions. I never lost a single plant out of four different taxa.

I would absolutely avoid repotting unless you need to. It adds a needless additional layer of difficulty because you're doing root damage to the plants. To acclimate to lower humidity, they need every root hair they have and often need to manufacture more.

For the best survival rate, two things are the most important:
1) do it slowly. That's why I noted that it took about 4 weeks.
2) Ensure the plants are as healthy as possible before you begin this process.

Good luck! Keep us updated on em!
 
I do not have a huge amount of experience growing Neps from seed, but I do have a good deal of experience with acclimating many other genera of plants to a wide variety of settings. In fact, I just went through hardening some awesome Nep seedlings from Whimgrinder to the conditions of my greenhouses at work. The process took about 3 weeks, and he can probably remember better how old they were at the time (not at work to check the labels)... they vary in size but are generally 1" in diameter. When I got the plants, they were bare-rooted. I immediately potted them, fed them lightly at 1/16 tsp per gal strength to stimulate the formation of root hairs. If they lack any nutrition at all root hair formation will be limited. Good feeding minimizes transplant shock.

Next I put them into a humidity dome and watching them meticulously. After about a week I began propping it up more and more (punching holes is also recommended, but remember you can't easily reverse this!) until I saw no desiccation. Things like the pitcher lids closing and the leaves losing turgidity were my signs to keep the humidity high. It took 2-3 weeks for them to tolerate the new lower humidity conditions. I never lost a single plant out of four different taxa.

I would absolutely avoid repotting unless you need to. It adds a needless additional layer of difficulty because you're doing root damage to the plants. To acclimate to lower humidity, they need every root hair they have and often need to manufacture more.

For the best survival rate, two things are the most important:
1) do it slowly. That's why I noted that it took about 4 weeks.
2) Ensure the plants are as healthy as possible before you begin this process.

Good luck! Keep us updated on em!

Thank you! I'll post pics of progress. :)
 
you can keep a good bit of old media around the roots so not to disturb them,thats what i try to do when repotting any seedlings,no need to disturb the roots unless you really have to
 
Or you can sow seeds directly in the greenhouse and not worry
 
Alright, so I moved most of them outside and they're doing great. I have 2 pots of boschiana x fusca x unknown of there, raging from pitchering sprout to 1.5".

Today it is overcast, so it may be a good time to light-acclimate. Tomorrow should be partly cloudy, then sunny on Monday. So what it will look like in the GH...

Today: 68F high in GH, 54F low (Shade)
Tomorrow: 72-78F depending on cloudiness, 54F low (Partly shady)
Monday: High in low 80s, 54F low (Sunny)

Do you think I should move the attenboroughii seedlings outside now, or wait until it is sunny and warm? Don't want to light shock them, but also don't want to temperature shock them. Humidity should be high today and tomorrow.
 
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