Hail Damage - broken tips on tomatoes, leafless peppers

13 years ago

Last night, we had really bad hail while I wasn't at home. The damage this morning is disheartening.

I am most worried about:

The tomatoes - several had the top growing tip snapped off (in addition to the leaf damage). Will they send out shoots from the lower junctions? They are very unusual heirlooms that I started inside from seed, so I can not go out and buy more.

The peppers - several are leafless. Completely leafless. These are the same heirloom hot peppers that I started inside back in January and have been babying for months. Stupid hail.

Onions and spinach - I'm less worried about their recovery, but they are completely shreaded. Especially the onions.

Any stories of miraculous recoveries from hail would be much appreciated!!

Thanks,

Bellatrix

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Comments (7)

idaho_gardener
13 years ago
Yes, the tomatoes will recover. I had tomatoes and peppers in a raised bed that were completely defoliated by a hail storm and they recovered and produced a reasonable crop.

I think the spinach is relatively hardy. I would expect it to recover quite well. But I have no experience with onions.
star_stuff
13 years ago
I feel your pain! All of my plants were damaged by a hail storm a few weeks ago, but they have grown so much since then, you can hardly tell! So don't worry, they will definitely recover!

I wouldn't pull any plants up...with a little patience they will amaze you. You can even root the growing tips of the tomatoes if they are at least a few inches long. Simply remove any lower leaves, and stick them straight into a pot of potting (quite deeply), water them, and keep indoors or in shade for a few days. You will have new cloned tomato plants of your heirlooms! Good luck!

Caroline
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marlingardener
13 years ago
Our very first garden in Texas was hit with hail--cukes' leaves were lacework, tomatoes were broken, peppers defoliated, and our poor lettuces, sad! However, I cut away all the broken stems, took off the most badly damaged leaves, and gave everything a gentle boost of manure tea. Within two weeks the damage was hard to find. Our tomatoes were shorter but producing, the cukes also, and the greens had recovered. The peppers took longer, but they also recovered and gave us a decent crop about 6 weeks later.
Hail is terrible, but not necessarily fatal!
wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana
13 years ago
Four years ago I had hail. Some things really looked bad. Most recovered fine...sweetpotatoes, corn, tomatoes, but peppers, onions and watermelons were hurt.
digdirt2
13 years ago
Same here Bella but 2 weeks back. Everything is recovering nicely. Lost 1 tomato plant where the main stem snapped close to the ground and was able to remove the last of the shredded pepper leaves yesterday.

Chin up - all will be well IF the weather cooperates.

Dave
robertlovesmaters
13 years ago
they should be fine, if , like the others say, the weather cooperates. I put my upside down tomatoes up in the garden, then bam 30mph winds hid and unfortunately, there is a wire fence right next to them. stripped off over half the leaves.. broken leaves on the peppers and zukes too. they are recovering nicely after a week of decent weather. dont give up on them..
bella_trix
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you so much for the words of encouragement! Some of the plants are already looking much better. Even the leafless peppers are starting to put out new growth.

If the tomato harvest is a little later this year, so be it.

Thanks again,
Bellatrix

Hail Damage - broken tips on tomatoes, leafless peppers

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Hail Damage - broken tips on tomatoes, leafless peppers

Comments (7)

idaho_gardener

star_stuff

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marlingardener

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