Transitioning seedlings outdoors

[kirkauburn]

Hi everyone! I hadn't seen a thread on this particular topic that is of interest to me - finding the best method to transition your indoor grown seedlings outside and have them continue producing without skipping a beat. I'm sure some of the master growers in here have some awesome processes they've refined over the years so I was hoping to hear about them. Below is what I've observed over the past 2 seasons here in the Atlanta area. Pretty much all of my seedlings are 2+ years old by the time I move them outdoors and have decent sized rhizomes and are producing adult pitchers. All my seedlings are grown in my unheated garage under high output LED fixtures that produce great growth and color:

1: Spring - This is the first method I experimented with. I did accustom the seedlings slowly to direct sunlight by starting with only a few hours a day and keeping them mostly shaded for the first few weeks. Some plants did experience some sunburn, but nothing too bad. Still, the plants didn't seem to continue producing mostly because by the time they were fully acclimated we were heading into mid-summer, when most of my Spring producers are beginning to slow down. Seedlings did continue growing, but pitchers were definitely thinner and more spindly than the lush first burst of Spring growth or the fall growth of leuco's and other fall species. The fall species did have time to acclimate and produce a fall flush, but it wasn't as robust as I would typically expect. Still, I think this might be the best method for plants that are fall-dominant.

2: Early Fall - I followed the same process for early Fall, usually around late August-early September. The days are just barely beginning to get cooler by this time and photoperiods are starting to get shorter, although nights are still warm and the heat of the day is still nice and hot. I preferred this method, although it has a longer wait until you get the full payoff. By doing this, plants produced weaker, spindly growth in the fall. This growth produced just enough energy to give the plants a graceful transition into dormancy. By the following Spring, plants resumed growth as normal with the lush first burst of growth and many flowered.

Conclusion - so far I prefer the fall method, although if there were a way to begin transitioning plants earlier in the Spring and still get a full season of growth I would prefer that so I can have a full season to observe the plants rather than waiting through dormancy until the following Spring. I am still playing around with different methods to see what works best down here but for the time being, Fall wins because I can move plants out to create space for new seeds the following winter and have something to look forward to as we approach the end of winter. Let me know if you have any thoughts!

[nepenthes0260]

Excellent thread idea!

I've experienced similar results with sarr seedling acclimation. In 2020, I tried acclimating a big batch of seedlings to the outdoors of eastern Washington State in the month of May. The plants were accustomed to the perpetual summer of the grow chamber, so they started producing very small pitchers when they were thrown outside and exposed to cooler nighttime temps and a shorter photoperiod. By the end of the year, they were barely reaching the size they were at while growing indoors. On the other hand, the batch I threw outside in the fall were much larger to start off with (as they had been growing in the chamber and getting MaxRoids for several months longer than the springtime batch). They slowed down and started making smaller pitchers as well, but this wasn't too surprising considering my adult plants were doing the same thing for fall. They went dormant shortly, and came back even bigger next spring. The batch that was put outside last spring was much smaller in comparison to the fall-acclimated plants when waking up. In short, I highly recommend acclimating seedlings outdoors during the fall if your indoor space can afford it!

[daniella3d]

I put them directly into my greenhouse, in full summer. I put them in between larger sarracenia so they have a bit of natural shade. Seems the polycarbonate panels are filtering most of the harmful sunlight, and I never had a problem that way. I choose a spot where it is more shaded, like in the back of the taller plants, and they do fine. It's also possible to put them in a greenhouse and put a shade on the greenhouse for a while, that also works fine, and no need to slowly acclimate them to sunlight that way. I like skipping dormancy for my seedlings until they are 3 or 4 years old, so in the fall I bring my best seedlings back into the artificial light for the winter.

In a greenhouse, there is not so much need to acclimate to sunlight, just a bit of shade from the other plants is enough to start. Well at least in our sunlight in Quebec. Maybe Florida sunlight is stronger and that would not work or would work with a shade.

[rmeyer]

I just recently transitioned a whole flat of flava ornata from seed to outside. Spring is too early. The weather is a roller coaster. Fall ... what's the point. They'll just go dormant. So ... this time I waited for the second flush of my other flavas. (After the initial spring flush.) First week of July. They didn't miss a beat. I already have pitchers over 3.5". These seeds just sprouted in January. 

[jgreen1025]

Aug 5, 2022 12:53:56 GMT -5 rmeyer said:

I just recently transitioned a whole flat of flava ornata from seed to outside. Spring is too early. The weather is a roller coaster. Fall ... what's the point. They'll just go dormant. So ... this time I waited for the second flush of my other flavas. (After the initial spring flush.) First week of July. They didn't miss a beat. I already have pitchers over 3.5". These seeds just sprouted in January. 

Hey Rick, just for clarification: did you transplant them into new pots and soil, or just move them out and acclimatize them (for transplanting later in the season)?

(Thinking out loud ) I ask because this spring I transplanted some beautiful seed-grown flavas, leucos, rubras and hybrids into large outdoor pots and uncooperative weather toasted most of the pitchers, so it's feeling kind of like a wasted year. (I'm still hoping the leucos and rubras will put on a good fall show, and of course anticipating next spring.) But I now have some alatas and excellens (also sprouted in January; pitchers as tall as 12") that I'm planning to move out of the LED grow box and into outdoor pots this fall, so your "what's the point - they'll just go dormant" comment is relevant to me. The weather here (Los Angeles) has been high 90s to just over 100f lately, so now is not a good time. But my thinking was that transplanting in mid September (if the weather cooperates) might still give them a couple months to shine before dormancy... or maybe I'm just trying to rush them too much? I appreciate thoughts and input.

[rmeyer]

jgreen1025:
Yes ... I put all of them in a 'flower box'. (30 seedlings) It's about 12" x 24" and around 10" deep with fresh media. The temps were high 80's low 90's when I put them out. 1 - 2 hrs of full sun for a week, then dappled mid day sun (from other plants) for another week. After the two-week transition to full sun they were put in their 'full sun' position. I water them every evening with no water reservoir.