I’ve always taken more of a support role in gardening. Just provided proper structure support and watering and really let them do their thing. I’d prune when things were obviously super bad and obvious but this is kinda outside my knowledge. I’m going to prune all the branches that are broken for sure but what about the ones with impact damage but no breaks? And the fruit that survived do I cut that so the plants can focus on growth and not fruit? They have almost no leaves so don’t even know if the fruit would keep growing without the photosynthesis from the leaves. What would you do? Lop them all off at the ground? lol
by nickyidkwhat456
34 Comments
I say this with all the love in my heart. Put that to rest in the compost bin and start over. Or if you want to give it a chance, clip off al the mashed and destroyed bits and plant another one so you can have tomatoes even if this one doesn’t recover.
Cut fruit. Tomatoes will grow more suckers
Remove all the zucs from the plants, even if they’re “too little”, and eat them. They’re good food.
Give the plants a week to see if they recover or surrender.
Get some seeds started because most probably they’re not making it.
What a mess, so very sorry to see this. I have seen both, a full recovery and a total loss after a hail like this. So maybe keep half of whats left and hope they will recover and also start new ones the other side. Good luck! And warm sympathy from a fellow gardener
Jeez, your poor garden just got shredded, didn’t it? I would salvage what I could, then go to the nearest local garden center and treat myself to some new plants. Sorry this happened to you, talk about beyond your control!
You’d be surprised at how resilient tomatoes and peppers can be, and none of those plants have damaged roots. Cut back the worst of it and the speed which they recover will surprise you.
Oof. My condolences. RIP.
This is so sad!
File a claim for hail damage to your roof lol
Let it recover and trim as needed. it will be fine
you grieve then try again
I see leaves still attached, so they may possibly pull through.
That said, they may be stunted and your harvest has absolutely been impacted – even if they recover. Replace with seeds if you can. If you can’t, your local greenhouses may be able to, or have already, ordered more starts. I would call around and see if anyone will be restocking their starts. Facebook marketplace may also have people selling starts as well.
If nowhere will be restocking nearby, then search a few hours drive north. It sounds insane, but if it means no garden this year or your expected garden… a weekend trip might be worth it. Depending on where you are in the state, you may be lucky and have a greenhouse north of you just ending their start-selling season, or even in a cooler hardiness zone. Alternatively, if you would rather get a jump on mid-summer starts, search south. YMMV depending on your area and local climate.
This sucks. It’s 100% a write off for the entire year in my books. So whatever you do, whatever you get out of gardening this year, I hope it’s peace. Besides, now with zero expectations, every harvest will be an unexpected joy. Good luck!
Jesus Christ! I don’t live in an area that commonly gets hail, but I had no idea that it could completely shred plants like that. That must have been quite the storm
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yesterday’s hail was the craziest I’ve seen in a long time. good luck with the garden!
Two choices, either…
scrap it all and start over (it’s still early enough, a lot of people haven’t even been able to get things in the ground yet).
Or (what I would do)..
Leave it as is for a week or two. You’ll be surprised by what keeps on growing vs what you thought was damaged and needed to be cut now. (After a week or two it will be obvious which parts are damaged beyond hope)
Just a little story… we had a tree come down a few years ago, decent sized birch. Anyway it came down in a winter storm and fell back into the treeline.. so it was in shade and not getting much light at all, onto of being completely down.. that tree lived for the next 2 years, until I was forced by certain people to remove it. Turns out the tiniest sliver of its trunk was still attached to the roots.. and thats all it needed. It actually grew better while on its side and in the shade than it did while upright. If it was up to me, it would still be there growing, cause I love things that shouldn’t succeed. Anyway point is, it will surpise you what plants can pull off. You might think certain parts are goners, and then they heal and keep growing…
Wow. That’s a massive facefuck.
First, get a time machine…
Perfect chance to try spraying rooting hormone on everything. Maybe it’ll make them all grow faster.
We can do a lot nowadays but we can never beat Mother Nature, can’t get mad can’t be glad,it’s Mother Nature also so sad , gardeners always find a way to keep going, good luck
I had tomato plants that were well established one year get clobbered by a very late frost. They res-router from the roots. Your crop may be late this year but I would be surprised if the tomatoes at least didn’t bounce right back.
Hit them with some nitrogen. Ie diluted urine works great.
damn that’s wild it straight up shredded them. trim it and pray but i would start some new seeds or buy some plants
wow, just wow.
The root system is still intact, it’s more likely to live than die. This is a guess but since it’s basically a baby plant with a full root system it should come back pretty quickly if it’s getting good sun and care. Prune flowers for a while so it can focus on regrowth for a while would probably be helpful. And make sure to fertilize.
Oh no! I’m sorry!
Maybe take some cuttings of your tomatoes and propagate them. [here’s a video](https://youtube.com/shorts/qUhaAin3Puc?si=Q1NtZkqWz8EW54fV) but make sure to remove the flowers.
This happened to me a couple of weeks ago! Hail so bad we have to get a new roof. I trimmed, ripped some stuff out/replanted, and fertilized the plants I kept. My garden has been resilient and started showing signs of life again.
You must be in Tontitown area! My mother’s plants look the same. Hope they recover for you!
Wow! What a drag! I’m sorry this happened. I would probably start over 😞
what do you do? my first thought is cry…
your peppers are likely dead. your tomatoes might recover. go looking for suckers on some of the plants and see if they take off. alternatively you can cut the suckers off, plop them in a glass of water on a windowsill, and let them root. i’ve set up mid season clone tomatoes from cut suckers before.
might be best to cut your losses this year, maybe start thinking of a transition to a fall garden?
You must be zone 8-10 areas to have such mature plants by now. Here in 5b, we’re just starting to plant outdoors. If the plants don’t recover, you can always plant another batch.
Damn!! You guys have had it rough I keep hearing the weather reports! BUT!!!! Never lose hope let a few days pass see what needs cut off and in the meantime like others have said get some new babies going! There is still time! 🙏😁
I think you’re going to have a killer harvest in a couple of months! It’s a damn shame, but that’s why she’s MOTHER nature! Some are probably toast and others will produce better than expected. Roll with it and drop some more seeds. Perhaps of things you didn’t have before. Hey, what have you got to loose? I hope all is well with you and those you know. Go for it! Life of all kinds is really, really resiliant! Good harvest, my friend.