Any new ideas on Hail Protection ?

[greenthumbomaha]

I got another new roof last year, my car was totaled , etc - who knows if this year will be super active again. I put chicken wire on top of my 4 cherry tomato plants in concrete wire cages and wrapped the upper half in black weed cloth. What a project that was, and I left the chicken wire on too long and couldn't get in there to pick. Doing that 20X more would have been back breaking.

I'd be interested to see/hear how others are taking precautions as our weather gets more extreme. I've got my tomatoes started but will likely start a smaller selection of back ups in about a month.

Lisa

[Marcus1]

Hey Lisa, Am very interested in this thread. 25 seasons growing for market and have yet to come up with anything practical. The closest I've come was using Agribond fabric stretched over a double fence and then the wind was always a problem and had to remove it for harvesting. I do use some low tunnels on some of my melons, but have to remove it when the vines start to run. I have had maybe 2 seasons where I didn't get hail, sometimes it's the post hail disease issues that are worse than the hail, like last year. My main strategy is prayer. Good luck with your season and hopefully someone will have some practical recommendations. Marcus

[bitterwort]

I don't have any strategies to offer for growing large plants in the field, but you might consider this option for young plants and a very few plants that you cage. I grow a lot of seedlings for a neighborhood sale each year, but we are pretty much overrun with squirrels, so my husband constructs what we call squirrel-proof cages. He cuts a length of hardware cloth (wire mesh) and bends it in a square large enough to accommodate two flats and zip-ties the ends together. This makes the sides of the cage. Then he cuts a square of hardware cloth the same size as the square and zip-ties it to the sides, making the top. A length of wire clothesline tied on two ends near the center of the top serves as a handle for lifting it over flats of plants and off again.


We discovered that this not only protects the transplants from squirrels, but it also keeps all but the smallest hail from going through--hail bounces off the top. I've used these as covers set over the tops of the cages for larger tomatoes in pots as well (you could always wire it to the cage if strong wind is likely) with good results. At the end of the season, you can remove the zip ties and fold them flat for storage.

[Lasairfion]

Agrivoltaics brings in cash from selling power, as well as providing a hail proof, shade cover that you can set at a reasonable height for harvest.


Recent studies seem to be showing that the shade helps reduce water loss, whilst also creating a new microclimate, while the transpiration from the plants cools the panels and helps them work more efficiently.

[greenthumbomaha]

So, be careful what you wish for as shown above!

I recently saw a photo of interplanting a butterfly fly-way among solar panels. They were careful to select plants that would not grow tall and interfere with the plants shading the panels collecting solar rays.

Squirrels seem to prefer jumping off the roof and eating all my peaches, and don't show much interest in tomatoes . I do have rabbits that visit, but mostly to take a bite to check out the offering and then move along. I like to watch them in winter. I forgot to put the plastic trunk protectors on the fruit trees in the fall, and have significant damage from the month long frozen foot of ice on a young peach tree.

Getting worn out thinking of the possibilities of hail or something else weather wise. We are getting 3-5 inches of rain this weekend. On par with anxiety about everything else going on this year.

- Lisa

[JRinPA]

So Lisa are you looking for permanent covers or are you looking for something to install when and remove after a storm comes, for about 25 cages?

[greenthumbomaha]

I'd be interested in both options, JRinPA. I used to live down your way (across the pond near Philly) and only once remember hail, and it was pea sized. Here it comes down with tremendous force and is most often golf ball sized. Sometimes smaller, sometimes much larger. We do get a fair amount of 80-100 mile straight line winds as well. The wind doesn't usually do complete damage to the plant, just leave it ragged unless the cage gets torn out. Still not usually a fatal blow as the plants just topple - roots manage to stay in the ground. The size and force of hail we sometimes get can break even the strongest stem imaginable.

- Lisa

[JRinPA]

Yeah hail is rare, so is damaging wind. I have only claimed hail damage once on a vehicle, that was maybe around 07.



Does the hail come straight down or is at an angle? If angled, is usually from W, or NW, or what? I can picture it here by the window AC unit damage.


Do you rotate your beds each year or are the 25 cages in the same spot each year?

[NmRuss]

Metal lath hail protectors. Comes from Home depot in a sheet and cut to size. Lath is used for plastering. Works good for at least golfball sized hail as you can see the damage the lath took.