Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Wind effect on tomatoes- what does it do?

montanamato · February 19, 2009

I have found unstaked plants get the least damage from wind...Cages give good support as long as the tomato is not staked inside the cage...Too many broken branches otherwise....
I garden along the front range of the rockies and wind is the norm...Often sustained winds of 20-35 mph with losts of stronger gusts and lots of thunderstorm wind in the summer...
My strategy is, plant out in the calm and give new seedlings protection ,if high wind comes before they are well established....I also favor semi-determinate and determinate plants for their low , sturdy growth habits...Large indeterminates usually do the worst in the wind here...
High wind does keep the grasshoppers from moving around too much, so it is not all bad...

Jeanne

Oh and I have lots of container plants going each summer as they get some protection from the house...I like the insurance that if the garden is wiped out I still have 20 or so tomato plants ...
I find peppers break off easier in the wind than tomatoes, especially the tall , leggy ones....

February 19, 2009	#6
montanamato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Montana Posts: 1,038	I have found unstaked plants get the least damage from wind...Cages give good support as long as the tomato is not staked inside the cage...Too many broken branches otherwise.... I garden along the front range of the rockies and wind is the norm...Often sustained winds of 20-35 mph with losts of stronger gusts and lots of thunderstorm wind in the summer... My strategy is, plant out in the calm and give new seedlings protection ,if high wind comes before they are well established....I also favor semi-determinate and determinate plants for their low , sturdy growth habits...Large indeterminates usually do the worst in the wind here... High wind does keep the grasshoppers from moving around too much, so it is not all bad... Jeanne Oh and I have lots of container plants going each summer as they get some protection from the house...I like the insurance that if the garden is wiped out I still have 20 or so tomato plants ... I find peppers break off easier in the wind than tomatoes, especially the tall , leggy ones....