Hail fellow not well-met :-(

17 years ago

.. after a morning of storms pummelling our area, I was watching the radar with trepidation from my office, seeing one of those REALLY RED storm cells sitting approximately over my house's neck of the woods in Hamilton County (I work about twenty minutes away). Heard my co-worker call from across the cube partitions, "Hey Sherry, WIBC radio just said there was 1" hail in Noblesville!".

Gulp.

Came home after work, finding streets a green slime with leaf shrapnel and just about flew out of the car when I hit the driveway, to check the yard. Ugh.. newly planted strawberries in their bed looked like an eggbeater chewed them, young shrub seedling had *not one* leaf left on it, but, aaaargh, the figs - the ones outside the porch which were on the north or west side, had leaves like battered rags, some with holes clear through, and the ones near the hostas along the north wall beneath the dining room, had almost no leaves left at all! only the ones inside the porch itself and on the lee side of it, protected by the screening and overhang, were either undamaged or only nominally ripped. Rest of my orchard and berry beds took a severe hit, gooseberries and currants with half their foliage ripped off and scattered, blueberries with branches dangling, peach trees had leaves tumbled amidst the pathetic little young peach fruits, new raspberries flattened, it was a scene of plant carnage that I honestly hadn't ever seen before. Only the pawpaws in their protective tomato cages with netting pinned over them had mostly come through unscathed even while being in the open. Talk about hideous.

So for hail-damaged figs, what's the best follow-up care? do I add any light fertilizer in a day or so, to give them some nutrients to start rebuilding leaves with? move to shaded areas since they've been battered and have less leaves now? recommends for nursing these storm victims back to health would be deeply appreciated.

bummed, but still grateful for what was spared,

Sherry

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Comments (5)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
17 years ago
Sherry:

Bummer!!!! Honestly I know how you feel. In my yrs in Texas I have been through dozens if not hundreds of hail storms. Thirty yrs in Amarillo and they ave 5 hails/yr. Been here 3yrs and 8 hail storms. Had two the other night which ventillated the roof of my greenhouse and it only rained 0.05 inch. Would you believe that is the only rain since Oct 14!!!!!!! I'm not lying!!!!

But back to your mess. A little extra fertilizer would be fine. They don't need shade, just keep the sun you had. Prune off any dead tissue and clean up any broken stubs felt hanging. Other than that, nothing else but time will help.

I must say you are taking it better than I used to. I'm better about it now.

The Fruitnut
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
17 years ago
Oh (((((Sherry)))))!! You know how bummed I am for you. I don't think I need say more, dear friend.

YBIC&PA
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girlfromthegarden
Original Author
17 years ago
Hey, thanks for sympathetic shoulders, I do appreciate them. You know, at first I was kind of in shock taking it in, after having an incredibly gorgeous start for all my plants this spring and working so hard on weekends getting things spit-spot, but was thinking as I went to pick up my kids for dinner, about how a quite-venerable account of a guy named Job put it in perspective. Here's this scenario in chapter 1 where his livestock get rustled by the local thug-gangs, all his baa-baa's become black sheep when lightning does the "insta-mutton-on-the-barbie" thing out in the fields, a tornado visits the house of his oldest son while all the kids are having a birthday party there and whisks them off to Oz, only there's no Glinda or ruby slippers bringing them back, and he didn't shake a fist at heaven, just remembers who gave him all his gifts in the first place. So I said his words out loud for some attitude reshaping (a little redux of v21, second half) and was glad for all the stuff that's still alive and will get back on its feet, maybe delay a harvest or so, but that's okay. I'm entrusted to bandage up some bruised figgies and berries, and sweep up one heck of a lot of debris. Plus hope we don't see another repeat for awhile! fruitnut, you may be more used to it down there in Texas, but honestly, we folks in central Indiana are bewildered by the amount of damaging hail this spring, there's been more incidents of it within the last two months than I can remember for about twenty years of living here! The stuff truly packs a punch (sorry to hear about the greenhouse, doesn't seem like plants can be safe anywhere once the sky starts falling), and all we can do is be thankful when it's less than baseball sized and our cars aren't caught in it, also.

I'll give them first aid tomorrow, for now, sleep's a must - glad you could empathize with one of those gardener's nightmare stories, of which I hope we all have _very few_ to share, now and in the future.

Sherry
leon_edmond
17 years ago
I sympathize with you. Several years ago, we had a hail storm come through in the month of June. It's a bit unusual for Albuquerque weather. Anyway, it shredded my fig trees really bad. They all leafed out again and grew with a vengence. So please don't fret over this natural phenomena. It's nature's pruning. I'm sure it got rid of alot of little pests as well.
bjs496
17 years ago
Hi Sherry,

I'm sorry to hear about the damage. We had a significant storm on Sunday with very minor hail. I was out during the height of the storm spraying the underside of the leaves with the garden hose to drive the bugs out when I realized it was more than large drops of water that were pelting me.
Between the hail and flying branches, I have many leaves which are pierced. Mostly on cuttings which i've been shading from the midday heat under a tree. My Blue Giant which finally started growing after my last post about it was pulled over pretty badly.

I think the damage to my trees is pretty minimal, especially compared to yours. I hope your trees make a speedy recovery.

Good luck,
~james

Hail fellow not well-met :-(

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fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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girlfromthegarden
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leon_edmond

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Hail fellow *not* well-met :-(

Comments (5)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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girlfromthegardenOriginal Author

leon_edmond

bjs496

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Hail fellow not well-met :-(

girlfromthegarden
Original Author