Help! Suggestions for preventing thrashed plants in Thunderstorm?

[SlamFire]

At about 11:30PM last night, a tornado warning siren sounded near my home. While I didn't get hit with a tornado, thank God, a severe thunderstorm rolled through shortly thereafter and dumped buckets of rain on my garden... After things settled down about half an hour later, I looked out the window and saw most of my 50+ plants (previously quite healthy) flattened on the ground. Ironically, the three tallest Havanas were still standing unharmed. The stalks aren't broken, the leaves are mostly undamaged, and the roots are still intact (if now exposed somewhat on the surface). This happened before when I grew Connecticut Broadleaf last year...

What's the best preventative way to support the plants so that they're still standing following a heavy downpour? Simple garden stakes? Something more elaborate? I welcome any reasonably affordable suggestions...

Thanks, Jeff...

 

[deluxestogie]

If similar storms are an annual thing, then you have to stake each plant, and loosely tie them. Otherwise, if it's just a random, infrequent hit, then re-standing the blowdowns is less work.

These are from my grow in 2012, when a rare derecho swept through the area.

Most of the plants were re-stood by simply re-positioning them, then embedding a small rock or two at the base of the stalk. A few of them required a stake to stand again. The vast majority subsequently grew well, and color-cured properly.

The key to all of these blowdown situations is to re-stand the plants immediately. If you can get them mostly upright, then they'll do fine.

Bob

 

[SlamFire]

If similar storms are an annual thing, then you have to stake each plant, and loosely tie them. Otherwise, if it's just a random, infrequent hit, then re-standing the blowdowns is less work.

These are from my grow in 2012, when a rare derecho swept through the area.

Most of the plants were re-stood by simply re-positioning them, then embedding a small rock or two at the base of the stalk. A few of them required a stake to stand again. The vast majority subsequently grew well, and color-cured properly.

The key to all of these blowdown situations is to re-stand the plants immediately. If you can get them mostly upright, then they'll do fine.

Bob

Thank you! Fortunately, after I set the plants back upright, it appears that I will only lose 1 plant due to serious root ball disturbance... I probably lost about a dozen leaves, but it could have been worse. I've added some stakes, but I'm going to have to come up with something taller to protect the plants as they mature.

 

[furryfreek]

To prevent top-heavy plants (namely orientals grown larger than normal/traditional) getting blown right over in the first place, I tried stringing support lines horizontally, along-side/in-between rows, with a fair bit of slack. See the last image of this post in my grow log for an example. It's not much good for keeping plants propped up long term — you still need to stake plants individually ASAP to prevent leaves bruising or even spontaneous decapitation* (2nd image) — but I think it makes subsequent staking easier and prevents plants becoming quite so wonky in the long term.

* I think this is only a significant risk overnight when the plants are all stiff; I'd add more slack in future if/when bad weather's forecast overnight.

EDIT: Also, I suggest capping stakes with some cloth or something to prevent unwanted damage.

 

[GonzoAcres]

"shade fabric" sold at greenhouse supply places, and harbor freight, is woven similar to onion/potato sacks In various densities %20 shade to let most of sun through, 80% if ya wanna block most o light. It's sold for the purpose of covering greenhouses to help cool them in summer and prevent sun from being to intense, it works AMAZINGLY WELL as a hail screen hung high enough over plants which is best done prior to transplanting tobacco under it., chicken wire is also fairly effective at breaking hailstones up if hung over plants

 

[SlamFire]

"shade fabric" sold at greenhouse supply places, and harbor freight, is woven similar to onion/potato sacks In various densities %20 shade to let most of sun through, 80% if ya wanna block most o light. It's sold for the purpose of covering greenhouses to help cool them in summer and prevent sun from being to intense, it works AMAZINGLY WELL as a hail screen hung high enough over plants which is best done prior to transplanting tobacco under it., chicken wire is also fairly effective at breaking hailstones up if hung over plants

Your post is very relevant to me - there was a storm that threw down dime sized hail - so now my tobacco leaves are full of holes... All in all, this hasn't been a great growing season...

 

[LazyBaba]

At about 11:30PM last night, a tornado warning siren sounded near my home. While I didn't get hit with a tornado, thank God, a severe thunderstorm rolled through shortly thereafter and dumped buckets of rain on my garden... After things settled down about half an hour later, I looked out the window and saw most of my 50+ plants (previously quite healthy) flattened on the ground. Ironically, the three tallest Havanas were still standing unharmed. The stalks aren't broken, the leaves are mostly undamaged, and the roots are still intact (if now exposed somewhat on the surface). This happened before when I grew Connecticut Broadleaf last year...

What's the best preventative way to support the plants so that they're still standing following a heavy downpour? Simple garden stakes? Something more elaborate? I welcome any reasonably affordable suggestions...

Thanks, Jeff...

Yep thats what mine were like..

 

[GonzoAcres]

Your post is very relevant to me - there was a storm that threw down dime sized hail - so now my tobacco leaves are full of holes... All in all, this hasn't been a great growing season...

hope it helps, the next key step in that process is hanging it prior to hail happening, which I have only successfully remembered to do occasionally

 

[GonzoAcres]

Thank you! Fortunately, after I set the plants back upright, it appears that I will only lose 1 plant due to serious root ball disturbance... I probably lost about a dozen leaves, but it could have been worse. I've added some stakes, but I'm going to have to come up with something taller to protect the plants as they mature.

T-posts? 7 ft is tallest I've seen em in but a 7 ft t post properly driven in to ground wont be going anywhere, if they need to be they can be extended with some 1/2 or 3/4 metal electrical conduit secured to the t-post with a couple hose clamps.. If you have more than a couple t-posts to drive into ground, I highly suggest purchasing/making a t-post driver, which is nothing more than a pipe that will fit over t-post with a cap and some weight on one end, and sometimes some handles on each side of pipe