Hardening off seedlings

[GigantosaurusRex]

I think I've messed up. I planted my seeds a few weeks ago and they are doing really well. I planted sweetpea and pea seeds in toilet roll 'pots' and the roots are escaping from the bottom! The sweet peas are now over 10cm tall and need support. According to our area the last predicted frost would be the end of April but I need to plant these on into bigger pots and don't have the kitchen space for that. Could I get away with hardening them off for a few days outside and then keeping them in our unheated greenhouse until the weather improves?

If the sweet peas are 10 cm, then you could pich out their growing tips, which would a) make them bush out a bit and b) slow their growth down until the chance of frost is over.

During the last warm spell I moved my sweet peas out of the heated propagator and into the unheated porch. I shall be moving them into the unheated greenhouse in a few days time.

I tend not to harden things off but instead wait for a mild spell before making a move.

Sweet peas are relatively hardy - when I get my act together, I sow them in the autumn and keep them in an unheated greenhouse over winter.

Sweet peas are pretty tough and can deal with the cold but they will get a shock going from a warm kitchen straight outside. If the roots are through the bottom they need to be in the ground asap. Assuming you're not in a very cold bit of the country I'd do an accelerated hardening off process a but like this:

Get a clear plastic box with a lid and move them outside in that. Night one bring the box in early evening and put them back inside overnight. Night two bring them in late evening so they've got a bit more cold on. Night three outside lid on. Plant in soil the next day but put the box over the top like a cloche for a couple of days then plants should be okay. If it's forecast to go under five degrees add a few more nights of cover before you move up the stages

My sweet peas are already out. I would donthe okey cokey with them as suggested above and then out they go. Mine are doing much better out in the ground now

greenhouse should be fine as long as it's above 5 degrees at night.

Thanks all. I've pinched the tops out and planted them up in three big pots which are now resident in the kitchen and I will give it a bit more time before I start hardening them off.