(snort) Well, my 10 year old son likes to garden & he's been helping carry the tomato beasts back & forth. My 14 year old daughter (who begged me to start all kinds of things for a garden she wants to start and tea herbs to add to the herb garden) - well, she harrumphs when asked to help with garden tasks. Gosh, how'd you know? :-) Meanwhile, the tomato beasts take up so much room they do feel like family members. The cats especially would like their windows back - the tomatoes surpassed the light shelf's capacity several weeks ago. Jon, are you saying you (dramatic gasp) don't really harden off? You just go for a couple of days of gloom and that works? My goodness, that would be fantastic! I'm still wondering about early amputation, though.

I use the same method for toms and peppers. I put them in the shade for a few hours, then bring them in(they need to get used to the wind as well as the sun). I do this for about three days, then I place them so they get maybe an hour of dappled sun, then put them in the shade for the rest of the day, then bring them in. I repeat each day giving them more sun each time(if it's cloudy or rainy, I leave them out longer). After about a week, I put them in sun, then in shade and leave them out overnight. After a few days of this I leave them out in sun and plant them in their permanent homes, be it large pots or the ground. So I take about ten days or so to harden off. I may be over-doing it, but I've lost plants planting them out before they're ready. HTH

Hi HotHouse, I used to live in a suburb of Chicago - the last frost date was May 15. I planted them in early June;having hardened off for a couple weeks before hand. They did well. I did not experiment with any other times. Regards, Lynne

Yep: Bill_missy is right. Mid to high 40's is fine for babies for hardening. I, myself, wouldn't bother for long periods(more than a week) at those temps because growth is almost nonexistent. They're better off inside. Adults are much more tolerant. I've had short periods of frost before and they survived fine. Of course, short periods of frost where I'm at is a couple HOURS right before sunrise. ;) Kevin