Hardening off Courgettes & Sweetcorn

Do you think it's warm enough yet to start hardening off my courgettes and sweetcorn given the strange weather we've been having with wind, rain and cold?

Or shall I wait a couple more weeks?

With the present weather conditions I'd give them a repot and hope the skys clear.   Cheers,     Tony.

Hi Ponygirl.

My courgettes and sweetcorn were put in last week in my St Leonards allotment. 

The courgettes were so big (they had filled 12" pots), they were taking up far too much space in my coldframe so I had to bite the bullet and go for it as I needed the coldframe space to harden off some tomatoes for a plant fair this Saturday. 

I have put cut down v large water bottle cloches over the top of the more exposed ones as insurance - particularly with the winds we had last week as I didn't want them getting damaged. 

Walking around the site last week, most plotholders have put their sweetcorn in already.

Hi, I'm in Eastbourne and planted out my first batch of 22 sweetcorn 4 weeks ago after hardening them off outside in a rubbish bin covered in fleece for a couple of weeks. They are growing really well. I planted a second batch (to avoid a glut) last week and they are also doing fine despite being exposed to those strong winds last week.

Thanks everyone, I'll try them in a sheltered spot in the garden for a week and bring them in at night. Maybe the weather will settle down by the time I plant them out!

Feels more like October today though - where did summer go?!

Thanks everyone.

The forecast for tomorrow in our area is heavy rain showers. It will be their 2nd day of hardening off and being brought in at night (courgettes and sweetcorn - I put them out for the first time today).

Should I avoid putting them out if the weather is bad or let them get on with it? They’re in a fairly sheltered spot in the garden although it can get quite windy where we are and the sun doesn’t come round until late afternoon.

I think I'll need to harden them off for a few more days as they've only been out of the house for the first time today.

Fleece sounds like a good idea when they're ready to plant, though once they're up at the plot I'll only get to see them 2-3 times per week.

Yeah, it's amazing how fast those fellas grow!!