I'm sure the broccoli will be fine but I don't know about the other two. It is supposed to be warm, but really windy.

Kristin,

It is hard to suggest to someone else what to do with their seedlings because none of us live in your exact climate/weather conditions nor do we know how strong your plants are, so we're just guessing.

I usually harden my plants off first for a week on a screened-in porch where the screening provides some wind and sun protection. Then they go outside for 1 hr. the first day, 2 hrs. the second, 3 hrs. the third, etc. Once they are able to stay outside from sunrise to sunset, I leave them on the screened-in porch or in the potting shed which protects them from night-roaming plant-eaters like rabbits and deer but exposes them to cooler night air. If the temps are forecast to drop below 45 degrees, they go into the well-insulated barn. If a surprise snow storm or high winds arrive, they may find themselves spending a day or two in the garage.

I never leave mine outside in the yard at night because if I did, the deer would throw a wild party and invite all their friends and I wouldn't have any seedlings by the next morning. I'd say that if you feel comfortable leaving them outside at night, go ahead, but be aware that any wild things, including domestic cats and dogs, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, etc. roaming around at night may 'visit' them, and sometimes you have surprising number of animals roaming even in suburban areas.

Also, always trust your instincts about the weather and do not trust the forecast. I have had a forecast of an overnight low of 50 lull me into a false sense of security only to have plants damaged when the overnight low dropped to 32 degrees. I learned an important lesson there.

If your wind is forecast to blow higher than maybe 12-15 mph all night, I wouldn't leave them out. They need a break from the wind, and it has been relentless all week and should be strong again tomorrow.

Dawn

My broccoli has been out for several days and night, but the tomatoes were left out last night for the first time. At night I push the tomatoes up beside a building to shield them from high winds. During the day, I move them around so they don't get the strongest sun for the full day. Our temps are supposed to drop below 50 by the weekend. If that happens, they will likely spend their night inside.

My peppers haven't been out at all yet.

I don't leave my seedlings outside at night for the same reason Dawn doesn't--critters of all kind out here in the country. Even in town I would worry about animals. Cats like to nibble green stuff.

Carol, My peppers went outside to the screened-in porch 2 or 3 days ago and they seem happy there. I will bring them inside on any of the nights I think the low temp will drop below 50. I'm eager to get them hardened off and into the ground if the warm temperatures continue, but I'm talking about getting them planted maybe around April 10-15th if the warm weather holds. We've had too many late April "surprise" snowstorms for me to think I can put them into the ground any earlier than that.

Broccoli has been ready to go into the ground all week, and I'm ready to put it there, but I don't want to put broccoli into the ground on a day when the temps are in the mid-80s and the wind is gusting into the 30s, which is what we expect here tomorrow. Maybe on Friday I'll get the broccoli into the ground and then I can move on to tomatoes.

My tomatoes have been outside forever hardening off...practically the whole month of March, but you can really see the difference in how much thicker their stalks are now and how thick their foliage is now compared to when they first went out. I'm glad I've given them a long, slow period of hardening off this year....not like I had any choice...we had snow not quite two weeks ago...I think it was the 20th. From that to the mid-80s has been quite an abrupt change.

Dawn

Usually when I move mine outside they stay out. In the past I have put them up against the north wall of the house. There is a garage to the east and a big lilac row to the north. The wind can blow hard and they get very little. Like Carol I move them out during the day if I'm around to get more sun. Like Dawn if temps are going to be lower than 50 I usually either move them in or cover them with something. Last year I used the cold frames for hardening off and they worked great. On one of them I put a screen door with the black fabric screen. That worked well. The main thing is wind protection on tomatoes in my opinion. Peppers I'm more careful with. Low temps can really stunt them. That is why I plant peppers the same time as I do tomatoes. This is what I was taught by my Mom and old market gardeners in NM. I usually wait till Labor Day weekend here to put out my peppers. Again like Dawn said a lot of it is gut feeling. I planted onions last week that got hit hard by the cold temps last Sat night. I'm sure most will be ok. Sure looks bad now. Was mid to upper 80's here the last two days. But a cool down coming. Jay

Jay,

Um, you said Labor Day...and I think maybe you meant Memorial Day.

I usually hold my peppers until about 2 weeks after the tomatoes are in the ground....and if the tomato plants haven't frozen, then I transplant the peppers. If the peppers were ready now, I probably could plant them the same time I plant the 'maters this year, but they won't be hardened off enough by then. Really, though, the way I keep planting my tomatoes later and later every year, I could put the peppers in the same time, but I never do.

Old habits die hard. In Texas, I'd transplant tomatoes in early to mid-March and peppers two weeks later, but in Texas the nights got warm and stayed warm, and here they see-saw all over the place. Sometimes I think I should just throw a dart at the calendar and let random chance determine the planting dates.

One thing I have noticed is that transplanting tomato plants into the ground causes hailstorms. As soon as I get the first round of plants in the ground, severe weather rolls in later than evening or the next day with hard rain, stong winds and hail. So, if I'm planting on Friday morning, y'all should be expecting weather trouble this weekend.

Dawn