Wind protection - yikes

tam91 · May 24, 2015

So tomorrow we're having huge wind, up to 50mph gusts or more. And my tomato plants haven't been in long enough for me to have the florida weave set up yet.

Would I be better trying to stake them, or cross my fingers that they just bend over, or....?

40 plants, in rows spaced 5 feet apart, so I can't think of an easy way to make a windbreak.

And I will have to do this in a hurry early in the a.m.

wormgirl · May 25, 2015

If you have the stakes, I would try to do that. I had a small, unstaked plant broken by a sudden windstorm once, so I'm kinda paranoid. I have my fingers crossed for your plants!

Douglas14 · May 25, 2015

Tracy,
How big are the plants? The larger they are, the more need for support/protection IMO.

If they aren't too large, you could use something like a piece of bamboo stick, and stick it in the ground near each tomato stem. Then tie some twine around the tomato plant and the stick. You'd need to do it in a way that the twine won't slip down.

tam91 · May 25, 2015

They're sort of medium - maybe a foot or less? Not quite tall enough that I needed to support them yet (other than today), but tall enough that I am worried about it. I was thinking of the stick and tie method.

bughunter99 · May 25, 2015

Stake them unless they are still pretty low to the ground. A wind break is just gonna squish them in the winds we are supposed to have today.

Good luck. I was just out there doing the same, first line came through but all came out OK. You can feel the energy in the air though. It is going to be a wild day again.

Also this wind is totally my fault. I spent six hours yesterday picking maple propellars out of the mulch. This morning mother nature has assured that it looks like I did almost nothing!

Salsacharley · May 25, 2015

I found some 30 inch bamboo "Marshmallow Roasting Sticks" at Smith's Grocery (Krogers). They came 12 per package for $3 per package. I used them on plants up to 18" tall and they worked great in 50 mph winds. I fastened the plants to the sticks with tomato clips. Good luck.

tam91 · May 25, 2015

Forecast has now changed - doesn't look like the winds are going to be as big as predicted. Pleasant surprise.

bower · May 25, 2015

Tracy,

I had some big plants a couple of years ago that weren't staked, they were just sprawling, and a hurricane blew through and they weren't affected at all.

Last year I tied up my Mom's plants to an overhead rail, very windy conditions and they basically endured all the motion and were okay. Fruit breaking off seems the biggest risk.

At the moment we're having crazy wind - yep gusts 45-55 mph and it's been going on for days. I had a bunch of extra plants I put out in their beer cups and was trying to give them minimal shelter although I have nowhere to plant them. They are a bit more than 2 ft tall. The first wind was cold and blew all night, the row cover blew over and was battering the poor things, lots of cups knocked over, lots of frosty damage on the lower leaves mostly from the windchill the first night. So it's now been days of heavy wind although hotter now, no stem has broken on any of these. (Yes, I can't seem to get rid of a single one.

)
Maybe some kinds are more brittle than others? I cracked the stem of a plant once trying to get it into a cage.

And I've seen a plant battered by wind against a cage.

But I would expect a one foot plant with nothing to bang into, to withstand a fair bit of wind without breaking. The bigger worry is that they will bend down and turn into creepers, and never stand up straight again.

Lindalana · May 25, 2015

Bower, that sounds like some extreme tomato growing. Aww...
we had some wind today but nothing dramatic. I build wind barrier with plastic sheets early on. Like a cold frame but no top.

RobinB · May 25, 2015

So Tracy, how did it go?

bower · May 26, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindalana

Bower, that sounds like some extreme tomato growing. Aww...
we had some wind today but nothing dramatic. I build wind barrier with plastic sheets early on. Like a cold frame but no top.

Cold frame with no top - this really works for me, for other veggies including peppers. Solid pieces of plexi are the best because the wind can't tear them off (just blow them over if not properly secuired... heh heh.

) For peppers a slab of wind shelter to the north or west makes all the difference.

tam91 · May 26, 2015

Luckily, the forecast changed and we didn't get really big wind - plants look fine. False alarm

Stvrob · May 26, 2015

One year for the melons I set up one of those silt fences that they use in construction sites and staked it in about 4 feet upwind parallel to the row. Another way is to make a long skinny brush pile parallel to the row but that takes more room. As they grow bigger the vines seem to like to ramble over the top of the pile.

tam91 · May 26, 2015

I'll end up doing a florida weave for the tomatoes. I'd just put them in recently though, and they aren't that big and I just hadn't put the stakes for the weave in yet.

noinwi · May 26, 2015

Several years ago I had a row of 6 or so maters in large buckets and pots and high winds were coming. I only had two bamboo stakes so I stuck them in the ground on either end of the row, then tied a rope to them and tied each mater stem to the rope. Then I watched from the window as the whole row went over at once, pulling up the stakes.

Luckily none of them were broken and DH and I were able to pick the whole row back up after the storm.

May 24, 2015	#1
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Wind protection - yikes So tomorrow we're having huge wind, up to 50mph gusts or more. And my tomato plants haven't been in long enough for me to have the florida weave set up yet. Would I be better trying to stake them, or cross my fingers that they just bend over, or....? 40 plants, in rows spaced 5 feet apart, so I can't think of an easy way to make a windbreak. And I will have to do this in a hurry early in the a.m. __________________ Tracy

May 25, 2015	#4
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	They're sort of medium - maybe a foot or less? Not quite tall enough that I needed to support them yet (other than today), but tall enough that I am worried about it. I was thinking of the stick and tie method. __________________ Tracy

May 25, 2015	#7
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Forecast has now changed - doesn't look like the winds are going to be as big as predicted. Pleasant surprise. __________________ Tracy

May 26, 2015	#12
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Luckily, the forecast changed and we didn't get really big wind - plants look fine. False alarm __________________ Tracy

May 26, 2015	#14
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	I'll end up doing a florida weave for the tomatoes. I'd just put them in recently though, and they aren't that big and I just hadn't put the stakes for the weave in yet. __________________ Tracy

May 25, 2015	#2
wormgirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 245	If you have the stakes, I would try to do that. I had a small, unstaked plant broken by a sudden windstorm once, so I'm kinda paranoid. I have my fingers crossed for your plants!

May 25, 2015	#3
Douglas14 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Minnesota Posts: 602	Tracy, How big are the plants? The larger they are, the more need for support/protection IMO. If they aren't too large, you could use something like a piece of bamboo stick, and stick it in the ground near each tomato stem. Then tie some twine around the tomato plant and the stick. You'd need to do it in a way that the twine won't slip down.

May 25, 2015	#5
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	Stake them unless they are still pretty low to the ground. A wind break is just gonna squish them in the winds we are supposed to have today. Good luck. I was just out there doing the same, first line came through but all came out OK. You can feel the energy in the air though. It is going to be a wild day again. Also this wind is totally my fault. I spent six hours yesterday picking maple propellars out of the mulch. This morning mother nature has assured that it looks like I did almost nothing!

May 25, 2015	#6
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	I found some 30 inch bamboo "Marshmallow Roasting Sticks" at Smith's Grocery (Krogers). They came 12 per package for $3 per package. I used them on plants up to 18" tall and they worked great in 50 mph winds. I fastened the plants to the sticks with tomato clips. Good luck.

May 25, 2015	#8
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,793	Tracy, I had some big plants a couple of years ago that weren't staked, they were just sprawling, and a hurricane blew through and they weren't affected at all. Last year I tied up my Mom's plants to an overhead rail, very windy conditions and they basically endured all the motion and were okay. Fruit breaking off seems the biggest risk. At the moment we're having crazy wind - yep gusts 45-55 mph and it's been going on for days. I had a bunch of extra plants I put out in their beer cups and was trying to give them minimal shelter although I have nowhere to plant them. They are a bit more than 2 ft tall. The first wind was cold and blew all night, the row cover blew over and was battering the poor things, lots of cups knocked over, lots of frosty damage on the lower leaves mostly from the windchill the first night. So it's now been days of heavy wind although hotter now, no stem has broken on any of these. (Yes, I can't seem to get rid of a single one. ) Maybe some kinds are more brittle than others? I cracked the stem of a plant once trying to get it into a cage. And I've seen a plant battered by wind against a cage. But I would expect a one foot plant with nothing to bang into, to withstand a fair bit of wind without breaking. The bigger worry is that they will bend down and turn into creepers, and never stand up straight again.

May 25, 2015	#9
Lindalana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 857	Bower, that sounds like some extreme tomato growing. Aww... we had some wind today but nothing dramatic. I build wind barrier with plastic sheets early on. Like a cold frame but no top.

May 25, 2015	#10
RobinB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Near Reno, NV Posts: 1,621	So Tracy, how did it go?

May 26, 2015	#13
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	One year for the melons I set up one of those silt fences that they use in construction sites and staked it in about 4 feet upwind parallel to the row. Another way is to make a long skinny brush pile parallel to the row but that takes more room. As they grow bigger the vines seem to like to ramble over the top of the pile.

May 26, 2015	#15
noinwi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: PNW Posts: 486	Several years ago I had a row of 6 or so maters in large buckets and pots and high winds were coming. I only had two bamboo stakes so I stuck them in the ground on either end of the row, then tied a rope to them and tied each mater stem to the rope. Then I watched from the window as the whole row went over at once, pulling up the stakes. Luckily none of them were broken and DH and I were able to pick the whole row back up after the storm.