Most of your young seedlings have been cultivated in semi-shade their entire lives. Best to plant them on an overcast day or in the early evening. Watch out for bright sun. If the AFTERNOON is full-sun, then put something in front of them (not on top of them) to shade them from the damaging afternoon rays until they are used to it. This will take a couple of days. They do like morning sun, though, and this is what gets them used to the hot afternoon sun. Scroll down to see some photos of sun damaged tomato and pepper plants.
If you are not planning on planting soon, do not leave them inside your house. Put them outside in direct sunlight in the morning, and a bit of shade in the afternoon for a couple of days until they get used to hot, bright afternoon sun. Then bring them back inside your heated house each night until your planting date.
Bay Area Planting Dates:
Within one mile of coast: Usually April 1
High elevations (above 1500 feet): Usually May 1
All other locations in Bay Area: Usually April 15
Spring of 2023 has been extra cold and rainy. So it's great that you've waited to plant.
Caveat: If you're in the middle of unusually cold or rain OR it's forecasted to be cold or rain in the week after your planting date, then wait until the cold or rain has passed. It's not the day time temps that are harsh - it's the night time lows below 45 or 44 that they hate.
Sunscald (aka sunburn) on tomato leaves (above). Caused by improper acclimation to bright sun. Photo by TomatoBible.com
Sunburned pepper leaves (above). Photo by PepperGeek.com
Damaged tomato plant (above) caused by planting too early. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm-weather loving vegetables dislike being planted too early, such as February, March, or even April in some extra cold/wet springs. They can develop diseases that kill or stunt them permanently, or inhibit healthy growth. Wait for low night time temps to be consistently above 45/44 to be considered safe for planting. Invert a bucket, cardboard box, or tub over them at night to keep them a bit happier in cold weather. Remove cover each morning. Photo by Missouri Botanical Garden.
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