A fire escape garden green pepper.
In the last step in our quest to grow a fire escape garden, the seedlings were beginning to grow robust and leafy — a little too big for their organic container gardening britches. I was looking forward to hardening off, the mysterious-sounding process where gardeners get their plants ready to leave the cushy indoor setup and venture into the fire escape garden outdoors.
This necessary step in the organic container gardening process is simple. When warm, sunny weather hits, place the seedlings outdoors for one hour in the fire escape garden; a sheltered place is best, away from strong breezes. Then take them back indoors. The next day, leave them outside in the fire escape garden for two hours. Repeat over a two-week period — the hardening off period, in organic container gardening-speak — and increase the number of hours they spend outside in the fire escape garden by an hour every day. At the end of the hardening off time, they’ll be sturdier, able to withstand wind, and used to the change in temps from day to night. In other words, they’re ready (finally!) to start growing vegetables in your fire escape garden.
It may sound like a chore, but the good news is that not all plants require hardening off. Some hardy cool weather greens, like my arugula and Swiss chard, took to the damp April days like white on rice. I just left them in the fire escape garden to harden themselves off. Other popular organic container gardening plants, like my peppers and tomatoes, are hot-weather babies and need an extra hand as they enter the outside world to continue flourishing in the fire escape garden.
I chose to start the hardening off when a mini-heat wave hit in May, with temperatures in the high 80s and a little muggy breeze. At first the peppers seemed to wilt and got easily blown over in their organic container gardening pots. I fended off panic and tried to keep the heavily-leaved plants upright in the fire escape garden. I considered buying pepper-plant cages — wire stakes that prop up the plants when the fruits get too heavy — but decided to tough it out for now. (They’re not cheap.)
Fortunately, the peppers seemed to rally after a few days of the process. I noticed their stems looking tougher and they began growing taller. I put the tomato seedlings outside in the fire escape garden a couple days later, and they thrived right away.
The challenge of organic container gardening, I’m beginning to realize, is simply learning what each kind of plant likes and dislikes, and trying to make their environment in the fire escape garden as suitable as possible. The plants will thank you with the fresh, tasty veggies that only organic container gardening can provide.
The next step: maintenance. Although the need for watering may sound obvious, the challenges of satisfying thirsty plants in a fire escape garden will soon be revealed. Stay tuned!
More from Metro Cheapo’s Fire Escape Garden Guide
Step 1: Choosing Your Plants
Step 2: Setting Up the Nursery
Step 3: Taking Care of Seedlings
Step 4: Transplanting Seedlings
Step 5: Hardening Off
Step 6: Maintenance (coming soon)
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