The month of May is the best planting time in many areas in the northern half of the world. Many gardeners are visiting garden centers now to buy plants. Those who have grown plants from seeds indoors may be getting ready to plant them in the garden at about this time. However, seedlings cannot usually go straight from an indoor growing area to outdoor beds and borders without risk. They need to be “hardened off” first.

五月是世界北半部许多地区最好的播种时间。许多园丁现在正在参观花园中心购买植物。那些在室内用种子种植植物的人可能会在此时准备在花园里种植它们。然而，幼苗通常不能毫无风险地从室内种植区直接种植到室外床和边界。他们需要先“硬化”。

That means slowly introducing the plants to environmental conditions like sunlight, wind, and changes in temperature that they have not yet experienced. If plants are not hardened off enough, they could get burned by the sun or go into shock from more wind exposure or lower temperatures than they are used to. Stressed plants can recover. But the process usually sets their growth back by a few weeks.

这意味着慢慢地将植物引入它们尚未经历过的环境条件，如阳光、风和温度变化。如果植物没有足够坚硬，它们可能会被太阳晒伤，或者因比以往更多的风暴露或更低的温度而受到冲击。压力大的植物可以恢复。但这个过程通常会使它们的生长倒退几周。

Start hardening your plants by placing them outdoors in a sheltered area that is partly protected from the sun. Do this for increasing periods each day for about a week before planting them in the garden. Protection from the sun is important. Even the window that gets the most sun in your home or an electric growing light cannot compete with the strength of direct sunlight. Choose a day after the danger of frost has passed and when the temperature is above seven degrees Celsius. Place plants outside for an hour, set a timer, and then bring them back inside to a warm spot, under electric plant lights is the best choice. Repeat this on the second day for two hours. Add an hour of outdoor time each day for a week. After that, they can safely be planted in their permanent homes, whether in the ground, a raised bed, or a container.t approved malaria vaccine to African countries as soon as possible.

将植物放置在室外部分受阳光照射的遮蔽区域，开始硬化植物。在将它们种植在花园里之前，每天这样做大约一周，增加时间。防晒很重要。即使是家里阳光最多的窗户或电动植物生长灯也无法与直射阳光的强度相抗衡。选择霜冻危险过去后且温度高于七摄氏度的一天。将植物放在室外一个小时，设置一个定时器，然后将它们带回室内温暖的地方，在植物电灯下是最好的选择。第二天重复此操作两个小时。每周增加一个小时的户外时间。之后，它们就可以安全地种植在它们的永久家园中，无论是在地面、高架床还是容器中。

Follow the weather and keep an eye on conditions throughout the process. Bring plants inside if rain or severe wind threatens during their outdoor time. Do not be concerned if there is no protection from the sun in your garden. You can harden your plants under an outdoor table, for example. Under large outdoor plants works equally as well. If you have none of those, you can protect your plants from the sun with something like an umbrella. If the weather is not hot, you can even plant your seedlings directly in the ground. Then harden them by covering each individually with a large plastic container with its bottom and top removed. Burying the bottom in a few centimeters of soil will hold the container in place. You can water plants through the pouring hole at the top.

关注天气并在整个过程中密切关注情况。如果植物在室外时间受到雨水或强风的威胁，请将植物带入室内。如果您的花园没有防晒措施，请不要担心。例如，您可以在室外桌子下硬化植物。在大型室外植物下也同样有效。如果你没有这些，你可以用雨伞之类的东西保护你的植物免受阳光照射。如果天气不热，您甚至可以将幼苗直接种在地里。然后用一个去掉底部和顶部的大塑料容器分别盖住它们，使它们变硬。将底部埋在几厘米深的土壤中可以将容器固定到位。您可以通过顶部的浇水孔给植物浇水。

Remove the container for each day’s hardening-off period. And then set it back into place and secure it into the soil afterward. Watch your plants carefully because high temperatures and strong, direct sunlight might “cook” them. Follow weather conditions and use your best judgement before planting seedlings directly in the garden. If you started plants in a greenhouse, they have already been growing in direct sunlight, so the process is easier. Open the windows for a few hours each day for about a week. Then, move seedlings to a sheltered outdoor area for two hours the first day and four hours the second day. After that, they should be ready to be planted outdoors.

在每天的硬化期取出容器。然后将其放回原位，然后将其固定到土壤中。仔细观察你的植物，因为高温和强烈的直射阳光可能会“煮熟”它们。在直接在花园里种植幼苗之前，请遵循天气情况并做出最佳判断。如果您在温室中种植植物，它们已经在阳光直射下生长，所以这个过程会更容易。每天打开窗户几个小时，持续大约一周。然后，第一天将幼苗移至有遮蔽的室外区域两个小时，第二天移至四个小时。之后，他们应该准备好在户外种植。