Question:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. Sue (mother of Lauren 1/12/95 & Meagan 7/12/97)
Try leaving them a couple of days (hopefully with sunshine) to see how they recover. If they still look bad, you may have to pull them and start over. Luckily you’re in a zone where the growing season is relatively long; since it’s only the second week of June if you can get some fresh plants at a garden center you can easily regrow most of what you had growing this season (Except for the melons).
Response:
Yes, let me clarify, I would pick the leaves that are damaged, do not remove the entire plants unless it’s hopeless. Don’t know if I was clear or not. Michelle M. Pauly, Author, Lecturer Gardening Secrets For Going Huge Fruit-Packed Tomato Plants. Organic gardening secrets for growing super-productive tomato plants. http://www.galaxymall.com/info/booklets/tomato.html – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I would remove the stuff that is obviously damaged so your plant can focus its energy elsewhere—like on new growth. Sometimes damage like that is like a blessing in disguise (sort of) in that the plant often is strengthened by the experience. Although golfball size is a bit iffy as far as the recovery rate is concerned. Michelle M. Pauly, Author, Lecturer Gardening Secrets For Going Huge Fruit-Packed Tomato Plants. Organic gardening secrets for growing super-productive tomato plants. http://www.galaxymall.com/info/booklets/tomato.html Ok, I was out in my garden today admiring how well everything looked….My tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. Sue (mother of Lauren 1/12/95 & Meagan 7/12/97)
Response:
<<Ok, I was out in my garden today admiring how well everything looked….My tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. That sure is discouraging. I had a fall garden, and a field of cucumbers, that were pummeled by Hurricane Hugo. I thought they were hopeless. Most of the plants wilted down badly. Someone told me to spray a mild solution of epsom salts on them. I tried it and they recovered surprisingly well. My cukes bore a big crop, but, since everyone else in the area lost them, the pickle companies closed their buying stations, and I lost my market. I know this is anecdotal, but it seemed to work for me. I’d like to hear other comments, though. The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html Jan’s Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles) http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm
Response:
I just went through that two weeks ago tomorrow. I let everything rest for a week. Then went in and gave it a good ’miracle growing’. We had so many cut off at the ground that they had to be replaced completely. The others are doing very well right now. Take off anyhing broken or damaged. (little tomatoes should be discared) It was hard to do but definately better for the plant.Mine are looking better everyday. Mother Nature is healing them right up. That is the sickest feeling I have EVER had when I walked out into that garden after our hail storm. 5 minutes of(ice) golf balls 70 mph! It still makes me sick. Patience is not one of my best virtues, b but it’s been worth it so far. Good luck, Susie In article – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yes, let me clarify, I would pick the leaves that are damaged, do not remove the entire plants unless it’s hopeless. Don’t know if I was clear or not. Michelle M. Pauly, Author, Lecturer Gardening Secrets For Going Huge Fruit-Packed Tomato Plants. Organic gardening secrets for growing super-productive tomato plants. http://www.galaxymall.com/info/booklets/tomato.html I would remove the stuff that is obviously damaged so your plant can focus its energy elsewhere—like on new growth. Sometimes damage like that is like a blessing in disguise (sort of) in that the plant often is strengthened by the experience. Although golfball size is a bit iffy as far as the recovery rate is concerned. Michelle M. Pauly, Author, Lecturer Gardening Secrets For Going Huge Fruit-Packed Tomato Plants. Organic gardening secrets for growing super-productive tomato plants. http://www.galaxymall.com/info/booklets/tomato.html Ok, I was out in my garden today admiring how well everything looked….My tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. Sue (mother of Lauren 1/12/95 & Meagan 7/12/97)
Response:
YIKES! How’s your roof? I would remove the stuff that is obviously damaged so your plant can focus its energy elsewhere—like on new growth. Sometimes damage like that is like a blessing in disguise (sort of) in that the plant often is strengthened by the experience. Although golfball size is a bit iffy as far as the recovery rate is concerned. That happened to me two years in a row and since then, I’ve had a 7 foot high chicken wire canopy over my garden to protect it from hail like that. It also provides a great tool for supporting long tomato vines—just hang strings from the canopy and tie them around the vines that need extra support for those plump juicy maters. In any case, good luck. Hopefully you will still have a nice harvest from your remaining plants. Michelle M. Pauly, Author, Lecturer Gardening Secrets For Going Huge Fruit-Packed Tomato Plants. Organic gardening secrets for growing super-productive tomato plants. http://www.galaxymall.com/info/booklets/tomato.html
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Ok, I was out in my garden today admiring how well everything looked….My tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. Sue (mother of Lauren 1/12/95 & Meagan 7/12/97)
Response:
Ok, I was out in my garden today admiring how well everything looked….My tomatoes were tall and lush green and flowering, my cukes were doing well, I even had a nice looking cantalope, green beans, carrots, broccolli and herbs. Not bad for my first attempt at gardening! well, an hour later my "babies" were pummelled by hail stones the size of golf balls!! this beating went on for some time and I was unable to get out there to survery the damage for almost an hour. the ground was white with hail stones and my plants were badly damaged. I carefully removed the "golf balls" from the area surrounding my plants, but later my plants wilted and looked a lot like they had been hit by frost. I guess my questions is, should I just leave them alone and hope they recover? or should I clip all the wilted stuff off? I don’t want to further stress the plants by leaving dead stuff on there. I am in Virginia, I am not sure what zone that is. Sue (mother of Lauren 1/12/95 & Meagan 7/12/97)