Oh Hail No

karla- · March 18, 2016

Long time lurker, first time poster here. A freak hailstorm came through yesterday morning and all of my tomatoes not protected by a WOW (all but 6) were beaten to death by the pea-sized hail. I came home from work yesterday with a sinking feeling that was confirmed once I saw those poor, sad tomato bits left laying in my garden. Thought I'd share with people who will share my pain.

Thanks for listening!
Karla

barefootgardener · March 18, 2016

Welcome Karla,

I am sorry your tomato babies got beat up bad by the hail. Many of us have been in your shoes a few times. It is a sad to see, so yes indeed we share your pain. I hope the rest of your remaining plants do well the rest of the season for you.

What varieties are you growing?

Ginny

KarenO · March 18, 2016

Hail is a garden's worst enemy here too. I'm sorry it happened and I hope it is early enough to replace the plants you lost.
Welcome to the group and keep on posting
KarenO

AlittleSalt · March 18, 2016

Sorry to read this happened Karla. You must have gotten the same storm that hit the Fort Worth Zoo?

I found a lot of transplants at a local mom and pop shop in Cleburne, Tx (Johnson County) that they were selling 6-packs for $2. It's a long drive from Flower Mound though.

clkeiper · March 18, 2016

Ahhh! that's painful. so sorry.

Deborah · March 18, 2016

So sorry about your tomatoes. I really am. But the title you chose for your thread is hilarious-I know I'm gonna like you!

imp · March 18, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by karla-

Long time lurker, first time poster here. A freak hailstorm came through yesterday morning and all of my tomatoes not protected by a WOW (all but 6) were beaten to death by the pea-sized hail. I came home from work yesterday with a sinking feeling that was confirmed once I saw those poor, sad tomato bits left laying in my garden. Thought I'd share with people who will share my pain.

Thanks for listening!
Karla

Hail can destroy a garden patch in no time, so sorry to hear yours got trashed in that storm. It has made me feel just sick to see what hail can do to a garden.

Salsacharley · March 18, 2016

I encourage you to keep your shredded plants going. I got hit by hail last year and my surviving stubs grew out and produced as usual, although about a month late.

PureHarvest · March 18, 2016

I second Salsa's comment.

2 years ago, my first year growing large scale, I planted out about 250 seedlings. They were about 4-6 weeks old.

3 days after planting we got an insane storm. Unlike any I've seen here. Hail that was defening on the metal roof of my pole building. Only the 3rd time in my 39 years I've ever seen hail. Wind was so strong, it blew the hail sideways. I guess it was Midwest/Texasesque
We raised pastured poultry, and I had one of my mobile chicken shelters get moved 10' across the field and it turned 90 degrees so the door to it that was facing south was then facing west. These things never moved in all the wind I had seen to this point.
I had over 500 birds out in a number of these shelters at that point to add to the stress while I sat in my truck waiting for the storm to end.
My shelters were about 100 yards from where I was parked, and I couldn't see them it was raining so hard.

I was sick to my stomach after the storm cleared so I could go assess the carnage.

Tomato-wise, I lost A LOT of leaves, but the main stems were mostly intact. Within 7 days you never even knew it happened.

Chicken-wise, I only lost 1 bird. It got stuck under one of the base boards of the shelter that got moved.

Your damage might be worse, but all might not be lost. If you can't restart, I wouldn't give up just yet. Just look at it as a drastic prune maybe?

b54red · March 18, 2016

I agree also. If the stems are still intact a up to a few of the leaf nodes then usually they will grow back if given time. However if you have good replacement plants of the varieties you lost it might be faster to replace them. Sorry to hear of your lose.

Bill

JLJ_ · March 18, 2016

I clicked on this thread intending to say the say thing the last posters said -- it's amazing how much tomatoes can recover from apparently total hail destruction -- I've had productive recovery even when the stub was off at the ground. Depends on how big your plants were -- and probably on varieties and, as said above -- if you have more plants or have more available, might be good to replant at least some -- but otherwise, don't give up on the others too soon.

Dinahsb · March 18, 2016

My friends live in Fort Worth and they lost the skylight in their kitchen. I'm sorry that happened to you. I live in Dallas and we didn't have any problems.

AlittleSalt · March 18, 2016

We had a couple of hail storms last year. I shared pictures here in the pictures section. But the plants were half grown and they did grow and produce fine. One was a Sungold that produced a lot of tomatoes.

March 18, 2016	#1
karla- Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 11	Oh Hail No Long time lurker, first time poster here. A freak hailstorm came through yesterday morning and all of my tomatoes not protected by a WOW (all but 6) were beaten to death by the pea-sized hail. I came home from work yesterday with a sinking feeling that was confirmed once I saw those poor, sad tomato bits left laying in my garden. Thought I'd share with people who will share my pain. Thanks for listening! Karla

March 18, 2016	#5
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	Ahhh! that's painful. so sorry. __________________ carolyn k

March 18, 2016	#6
Deborah Riding The Crazy Train Again Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: San Marcos, California Posts: 2,562	So sorry about your tomatoes. I really am. But the title you chose for your thread is hilarious-I know I'm gonna like you! __________________ "The righteous one cares for the needs of his animal". Proverbs 12:10

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

March 18, 2016	#2
barefootgardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Michigan Zone 4b Posts: 1,291	Welcome Karla, I am sorry your tomato babies got beat up bad by the hail. Many of us have been in your shoes a few times. It is a sad to see, so yes indeed we share your pain. I hope the rest of your remaining plants do well the rest of the season for you. What varieties are you growing? Ginny

March 18, 2016	#3
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Hail is a garden's worst enemy here too. I'm sorry it happened and I hope it is early enough to replace the plants you lost. Welcome to the group and keep on posting KarenO

March 18, 2016	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Sorry to read this happened Karla. You must have gotten the same storm that hit the Fort Worth Zoo? I found a lot of transplants at a local mom and pop shop in Cleburne, Tx (Johnson County) that they were selling 6-packs for $2. It's a long drive from Flower Mound though.

March 18, 2016	#8
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	I encourage you to keep your shredded plants going. I got hit by hail last year and my surviving stubs grew out and produced as usual, although about a month late.

March 18, 2016	#9
PureHarvest Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b Posts: 1,369	I second Salsa's comment. 2 years ago, my first year growing large scale, I planted out about 250 seedlings. They were about 4-6 weeks old. 3 days after planting we got an insane storm. Unlike any I've seen here. Hail that was defening on the metal roof of my pole building. Only the 3rd time in my 39 years I've ever seen hail. Wind was so strong, it blew the hail sideways. I guess it was Midwest/Texasesque We raised pastured poultry, and I had one of my mobile chicken shelters get moved 10' across the field and it turned 90 degrees so the door to it that was facing south was then facing west. These things never moved in all the wind I had seen to this point. I had over 500 birds out in a number of these shelters at that point to add to the stress while I sat in my truck waiting for the storm to end. My shelters were about 100 yards from where I was parked, and I couldn't see them it was raining so hard. I was sick to my stomach after the storm cleared so I could go assess the carnage. Tomato-wise, I lost A LOT of leaves, but the main stems were mostly intact. Within 7 days you never even knew it happened. Chicken-wise, I only lost 1 bird. It got stuck under one of the base boards of the shelter that got moved. Your damage might be worse, but all might not be lost. If you can't restart, I wouldn't give up just yet. Just look at it as a drastic prune maybe?

March 18, 2016	#10
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I agree also. If the stems are still intact a up to a few of the leaf nodes then usually they will grow back if given time. However if you have good replacement plants of the varieties you lost it might be faster to replace them. Sorry to hear of your lose. Bill

March 18, 2016	#11
JLJ_ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 759	I clicked on this thread intending to say the say thing the last posters said -- it's amazing how much tomatoes can recover from apparently total hail destruction -- I've had productive recovery even when the stub was off at the ground. Depends on how big your plants were -- and probably on varieties and, as said above -- if you have more plants or have more available, might be good to replant at least some -- but otherwise, don't give up on the others too soon.

March 18, 2016	#12
Dinahsb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Dallas Texas Posts: 28	My friends live in Fort Worth and they lost the skylight in their kitchen. I'm sorry that happened to you. I live in Dallas and we didn't have any problems.