Hail Protection - Page 2

Worth1 · March 29, 2017

I got three inches of ran and for some stupid reason I left a window down in my truck and it wasn't parked where I normally park it.
I hear the storm in the middle of the night run out in my underwear barefoot move the truck and run back in the house.
I'm soaked.
Then I noticed the headlights on so I have to run back out in this torrential downpour again .
This is the only time I have ever left the window down and it has to come a flood.
Worth

Gardeneer · March 29, 2017

Not bad, Robert considering the potential.
Now relax and start counting your blessings.

KarenO · March 29, 2017

Thenonions should be ok. A bit battered but let them dry up a bit and they will stand back up again. After a storm always looks worse when everything is still wet.
Looks to me like your preventive actions saved most of your garden. Good job!
KarenO
Hail in the Canadian prairies is a challenge as well

oakley · March 29, 2017

Your sheet sets are very patriotic.
Good save. It has been all over the news here.

(i was worried about your herb starts but i'm sure being in small pots you protected
them)

Looks like everything will bounce back.

AlittleSalt · March 29, 2017

Thank you everyone.

The plants are already looking better than they did this morning. There are storms forecasted for 4 days from now (Sunday). I still have some of the fencing material to build some more cages before then. The cages do help keep the wind damage down. Thunderstorms almost always come from the west here, so I adjust the cages to where the tomato plant is touching the east side of the cage.

Ricky Shaw · March 29, 2017

Burlap worked kind of okay last year, I've got plastic mesh hail netting for the coming season. Neither would hold up to larger hail as well as what you've got there.

greenthumbomaha · March 29, 2017

The grocery stockers think I'm really weird, but everyone here will understand. I'm big at repurposing stuff for the garden, ie collecting junk.

In the winter, grapes are transported from Chile in foam containers. I catch the stockers from trashing the foam crates and stockpile them. I've got a bunch of bungee cords to attach them to cages or my cold small frame. I also have rope and tent stakes to attach them to a folding lifetime table.

Of course we had a hail storm come out of nowhere last month during the unseasonable heat wave in the midwest, and I lost a few trays of young seedlings. You really need to get set up in advance when there is a high likelihood of severe weather.

I'm using the crates now to keep the seedlings close to the light.

- Lisa

AlittleSalt · March 29, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Burlap worked kind of okay last year, I've got plastic mesh hail netting for the coming season. Neither would hold up to larger hail as well as what you've got there.

Yours look VERY good. I hope this reply shows your setup. It is very impressive.

AlittleSalt · March 30, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

The grocery stockers think I'm really weird, but everyone here will understand. I'm big at repurposing stuff for the garden, ie collecting junk.

In the winter, grapes are transported from Chile in foam containers. I catch the stockers from trashing the foam crates and stockpile them. I've got a bunch of bungee cords to attach them to cages or my cold small frame. I also have rope and tent stakes to attach them to a folding lifetime table.

Of course we had a hail storm come out of nowhere last month during the unseasonable heat wave in the midwest, and I lost a few trays of young seedlings. You really need to get set up in advance when there is a high likelihood of severe weather.

I'm using the crates now to keep the seedlings close to the light.

- Lisa

Lisa, I agree completely. Repurposing things to help is very important. (I'll get back to that.)

I remember the pictures you posted after the hail storm. It felt like they were my own. I wish I could have put in better words how the pictures made me feel.

Repurposing - that's what I was doing making those cages I used. I took fencing that had been used for other things things by my father and stepmother in the earlier 1990s and 2000s that had basically been tossed off out of sight. It is rusting and twisted, but it's still usable.

I do the same with cardboard boxes. Weeds don't grow through cardboard, and it does decompose. I'm not sure if it adds anything other than matter after decomposing, but it works for what I need it for.

OzoneNY · March 31, 2017

The netting is actually to keep the birds out but as it happens it also functions like the net below a flying trapeze at the circus. Last week we had hail that range from peanut MM size up to golf ball. The smaller stuff passes through about half the time but is small and didnt do any real damage but the larger stuff just bounced off like the trapeze act that missed the mark and landed on the net.

IMG_20160404_183902173_HDR.jpg

karla- · March 31, 2017

Another North Texan here - we got baseball sized hail last week and it was awful. Might need a new roof and have at least 1 busted window at the house. Our yard looks like a bad golf course with divots everywhere. BUT my tomato plants made it! I put wall-of-waters around each of the 5 I had already planted, and made sure that I had them as covered up as I could. Two of the WOWs busted from the hail but the tomato plants inside seem okay. They had been a little banged up from all the wind we always have in the spring, but they made it through the hail. I've got another 10 or so plants to put out and I'm thinking I might wait until next week even though they're getting big, because they are calling for more bad storms this weekend.

AlittleSalt · March 31, 2017

The weather people are saying Saturday night and Sunday for more storms - high winds, hail, and widespread heavy rain.

AlittleSalt · April 1, 2017

Tomorrow is going to be beyond busy for me. I've got some beans to plant - 5 varieties. Three of them are more for looks than anything else Insuks Wang Kong , Painted Lady, and Purple Hyacinth. We like the flowers, and are hoping to get enough seeds to share. Then Yellow Eye, and Blue Lake Pole beans to eat.

After that - is adjusting the tomato cages to better protect the plants from tomorrow evening/night's and Sunday's thunderstorms. It is looking like I'll have to use the sheets again.

The order in which things are done depends on the weather tomorrow.

March 29, 2017	#17
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	Not bad, Robert considering the potential. Now relax and start counting your blessings. __________________ Gardeneer Happy Gardening !

March 29, 2017	#16
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	I got three inches of ran and for some stupid reason I left a window down in my truck and it wasn't parked where I normally park it. I hear the storm in the middle of the night run out in my underwear barefoot move the truck and run back in the house. I'm soaked. Then I noticed the headlights on so I have to run back out in this torrential downpour again . This is the only time I have ever left the window down and it has to come a flood. Worth

March 29, 2017	#18
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Thenonions should be ok. A bit battered but let them dry up a bit and they will stand back up again. After a storm always looks worse when everything is still wet. Looks to me like your preventive actions saved most of your garden. Good job! KarenO Hail in the Canadian prairies is a challenge as well

March 29, 2017	#19
oakley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: NewYork 5a Posts: 2,303	Your sheet sets are very patriotic. Good save. It has been all over the news here. (i was worried about your herb starts but i'm sure being in small pots you protected them) Looks like everything will bounce back.

March 29, 2017	#20
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Thank you everyone. The plants are already looking better than they did this morning. There are storms forecasted for 4 days from now (Sunday). I still have some of the fencing material to build some more cages before then. The cages do help keep the wind damage down. Thunderstorms almost always come from the west here, so I adjust the cages to where the tomato plant is touching the east side of the cage.

March 29, 2017	#22
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	The grocery stockers think I'm really weird, but everyone here will understand. I'm big at repurposing stuff for the garden, ie collecting junk. In the winter, grapes are transported from Chile in foam containers. I catch the stockers from trashing the foam crates and stockpile them. I've got a bunch of bungee cords to attach them to cages or my cold small frame. I also have rope and tent stakes to attach them to a folding lifetime table. Of course we had a hail storm come out of nowhere last month during the unseasonable heat wave in the midwest, and I lost a few trays of young seedlings. You really need to get set up in advance when there is a high likelihood of severe weather. I'm using the crates now to keep the seedlings close to the light. - Lisa

March 31, 2017	#25
OzoneNY Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Frisco Texas Posts: 390	The netting is actually to keep the birds out but as it happens it also functions like the net below a flying trapeze at the circus. Last week we had hail that range from peanut MM size up to golf ball. The smaller stuff passes through about half the time but is small and didnt do any real damage but the larger stuff just bounced off like the trapeze act that missed the mark and landed on the net. IMG_20160404_183902173_HDR.jpg

March 31, 2017	#26
karla- Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 11	Another North Texan here - we got baseball sized hail last week and it was awful. Might need a new roof and have at least 1 busted window at the house. Our yard looks like a bad golf course with divots everywhere. BUT my tomato plants made it! I put wall-of-waters around each of the 5 I had already planted, and made sure that I had them as covered up as I could. Two of the WOWs busted from the hail but the tomato plants inside seem okay. They had been a little banged up from all the wind we always have in the spring, but they made it through the hail. I've got another 10 or so plants to put out and I'm thinking I might wait until next week even though they're getting big, because they are calling for more bad storms this weekend.

April 1, 2017	#28
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Tomorrow is going to be beyond busy for me. I've got some beans to plant - 5 varieties. Three of them are more for looks than anything else Insuks Wang Kong , Painted Lady, and Purple Hyacinth. We like the flowers, and are hoping to get enough seeds to share. Then Yellow Eye, and Blue Lake Pole beans to eat. After that - is adjusting the tomato cages to better protect the plants from tomorrow evening/night's and Sunday's thunderstorms. It is looking like I'll have to use the sheets again. The order in which things are done depends on the weather tomorrow.