Had some plants suffer some wind damage at the base.
 

We had some pretty strong winds come through late last night. I discovered a few of my plants leaning over this morning. The plants are prob 18 inches tall right now. I propped them back up with cages but they are like gumby at the base. Will these stocks recover from this and stiffen back up?

If the plant has been damaged at the base, which yours sound like they have, I'd either replace them, if you have spares in the wings, or I'd bury the stems in the dirt so that the tops can grow new roots.

That doesn't sound good but is just about my luck. Just to be specific, the plants were not laid over at a 90 degree angle but leaning more at a 45.

I learned a valuable lesson.. I'll put the cages in earlier next time.

[QUOTE=Stainless;407800]That doesn't sound good but is just about my luck. Just to be specific, the plants were not laid over at a 90 degree angle but leaning more at a 45.

I learned a valuable lesson.. I'll put the cages in earlier next time.[/QUOTE]

But how far did a particular gust fold them over?

If the leaves still look OK they may well be alright.Mound the soil up volcano style around the base and always support them at planting time. Planting deeply will help them stand up to wind as well. Can you post a picture?
KO

I've got some spares that were given to me that I've kept under the lights.. I think I'll give these a week or so and if they don't grow anymore, I'll plant the backups.

If there was damage to the vascular system, the leaves would wilt within hours. If not, they should be OK.
KO

They still looked perky. I'll get a few pics this evening and post.

Wind dries things out...wind burn. I'd give them a watering and they'll probably come around. Also, I would protect them from heavy sun for the moment.

They're still looking okay. I'll leave the cages in there until I get my string line built this weekend. Hopefully they'll be okay.
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I know those pictures are not at very good angles. I really didn't want to pull the cages and bend them back over to show how I found them this morning if you know what I mean :)
I guess I was basically just showing how the leaves and plant look since this happened.

As long as the main stem isn't broken, I don't see any problem. Those plants look healthy from the angle you gave us. It's a good thing you had the cages there for support.

luck was on your side and I think they look just fine
KO

The best thing I have found to do when that happens is to put a long skewer in the ground right beside the stem down into the soil and use it as a splint tying the skewer and stem together with surveyors tape. The tape is stretchy and when the stem gets larger just cut it off. I have put plants together like that where the stem was broken at least 3/4 of the way through the stem but the 1/4 left provided just enough to keep it going while the break healed. It takes about a week to 10 days for it to heal if it is going to heal. If after a week the plant is wilting badly then the break probably didn't heal. I have four that partially broke at the ground that are now nearly healed and showing no signs of wilting. I will wait another couple of weeks before removing the splints though. The healed break is just like a graft and is a weak spot so it is best to give it a little extra time after the initial healing and make sure it is well supported before removing the splints.

If you are only dealing with a bad bend or kink then you can do the same treatment.

Bill

Thanks everyone.