My tomatoes neeed help!

[Starlight]

Storms got bad here, big time, too much wind, rain and I got some small pea size hail. Even with double shade cloth and plastic, the weight got too much too fast and I got damage.

This was the other day. Such pretty babies. Now a bunch of hurt tomato babies. Abe Lincoln isn't looking so hot right now.
Pics just a bit ago when the rain let up and the storms not over yet. It's thundering and still raining.

So what is the best way to try and save some of these guys. Especially the ones that are all bent over? Will they straighten up if I put a little like bamboo stick in the pot and tie em to it.

I have some that are like half snapped. The stems are not totally ripped off. I thought I saw a thread somewhere on here where somebody did something to try and save theirs.

Can the half snapped be saved? If so , what should I do?

The ones where the tops are hanging by a thread or should I top them even if they are determinates?

The ones that are totally snapped off, will they make more leaves if they broke right below the cotelydons?

[carolyn137]

It looks like they were very leggy to start with and if it were me I'd just leave them alone.

Many times I've had many hundreds of plants out hardening off and rain or wind or hail came along.No where to take them to cover and they made it OK. Some were bent, I didn't even worry about the ones that had snapped off b'c they almost always sent out new shoots.

Carolyn

[Patihum]

The plants that are just leaning , not broken, should straighten up on their own with a little sunshine.

I saved one plant last year that was broken by actually tying a cloth around the break with a stick inline to keep it straight but it was a lot larger than any of your babies.

[Fusion_power]

Get some short sticks about 8 inches long and push one down beside each plant as a support. They will straighten up and look as good as new within a week.

[Salsacharley]

You can get wooden ka-bob spears at most grocery stores pretty cheap. They are about 12" and pointed at one end.

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Get some short sticks about 8 inches long and push one down beside each plant as a support. They will straighten up and look as good as new within a week.

[Starlight]

Oh thankyou so much for the help. I REALLY!!!!!!!! appreciate it. I was so upset and now I feel lots better knowing not all is lost.

I have a bunch of 1" slats I use to make baskets with, so I'll prop and bandage where needed and leave the others alone.

Weatherman had said storms weren't coming til about dinner time this evening and than watching noon news saw there was about about 15 minutes to try and move and cover and throw quilts on car windshield before it hit.

Thank fully it wasn't worse. Not like the winter before where we lost greenhouses and thousands of plants from rain and ice .

I think the Amazon Chocolates have taken the worst hit. They laying down flat and pretty mangled. I really want to see what a chocolate looks like and tastes like.

[rhines81]

Don't be afraid to repot any if damage is low on the root stem. Just bury over the damaged part in the soil and it'll be OK within a few days growth. They are resilient. I had a couple 90% torn off near the soil line and I just propped them up with an inch of additional soil around the base ... they re-rooted and were just fine.

[ginger2778]

A trick I have used with bent over ones was to fashion a pipe cleaner into a small ring at the top, with some of the length left straight, then put the ring part around the bent area to support it while inserting the straight part into the soil. In a few days the tomato or pepper was strong and rigid, and was well supported to get that way.

[Gardeneer]

As long as the stems are not broken, they should recover fine.
As mentioned ka-bob sticks tied with grocery store bag ties can help them to get up faster.
So you have done a good job protecting them from hail damage.


Gardeneer

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by rhines81

Don't be afraid to repot any if damage is low on the root stem. Just bury over the damaged part in the soil and it'll be OK within a few days growth. They are resilient. I had a couple 90% torn off near the soil line and I just propped them up with an inch of additional soil around the base ... they re-rooted and were just fine.

Thanks Rhines. I was kinda wondering if I could replant and bury some damage and the plant not have problems later.

Originally Posted by ginger2778

A trick I have used with bent over ones was to fashion a pipe cleaner into a small ring at the top, with some of the length left straight, then put the ring part around the bent area to support it while inserting the straight part into the soil. In a few days the tomato or pepper was strong and rigid, and was well supported to get that way.

Nifty! What a neat trick. Thanks I'll have to try that on some of them. I know I have several packages of pipe cleaners around here somewhere in the craft room.

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

As long as the stems are not broken, they should recover fine.
As mentioned ka-bob sticks tied with grocery store bag ties can help them to get up faster.
So you have done a good job protecting them from hail damage.


Gardeneer

I picked up another package of ka-bob sticks on the way home, they had em at the dollar store. I just checked on them and some are up and some look like they went threw the garbage disposal.

I'm just glad they weren't any bigger and loaded with fruit.

Thanks everybody for the help. I'll spend tomorrow playing doctor. I'll give them til then to finish trying to dry out some.