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Tomato plants damaged by hail storm...Replace?

SP42SP42 Posts: 5
in Problem solving

Hi. New to the forum, so hello!

As per the title, I'm concerned about my plants. They have been outdoors for about a week now, and they were doing fine and looking very healthy. Then, three days ago, there was a five minute hail storm, that I naturally wasn't expecting, which was so severe that it actually smashed pieces of leaf off all of them (6 plants in total). They now look very battered and bruised. I'm wondering if they will recover OK (assuming there isn't another hail storm).

The thing is, I have backup plants indoors that are at the same stage, growth wise and very healthy looking.

Should I bite the bullet and replace these specimens with the backups, or do you think they'll be OK?

Please see photo below and tell me what you think:

image

 Thanks for any advice on this.

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    This happened to me last year when a hailstone tornado passed through the garden while I was away at Chelsea.    It wiped out my entire rhubarb crop and hostas both in the ground and in pots and also completely wiped out my baby chilies and tomatoes that I'd put outside for automatic watering cos I don't trust OH with plants.

     

    image

     Rhubarb shredded.

    image

     Blueberries defoliated along with blackcurrants and clematis and roses but they all recovered after I removed the damaged stems and gave them a good feed and pep talk.

    Do the same for your toms for a couple of weeks and then evaluate again if they're worth keeping or not.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • SP42SP42 Posts: 5

    Hi. Thanks for the reply. Yikes at your pictures...The rhubarb looks nuked! The thing is, since I'm sitting looking at some perfectly healthy, non-smashed specimens, I might just pot them up and throw the others away, just to be on the safe side, especially as they are in tiny pots and need to be transferred anyway. If I leave the damaged ones for 2 weeks and they're still poorly, it leaves me behind a bit.

     

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    I can't see any damage worth worrying about in that photo, SP42. All a tom plant really needs is some roots and a growing tip or two. I'd take off the lowest branches closest to the soil for housekeeping reasons.

  • SP42SP42 Posts: 5

    Oh, OK, thanks. I'll give that a go. Saves a load of hassle!

    All the best, SP.

  • LeifUKLeifUK Posts: 573

    It looks okay to me too. Hail damage is when the leaves are shredded. The rhubarb photo is astonishing. image

  • SP42SP42 Posts: 5
    LeifUK wrote (see)

    It looks okay to me too. Hail damage is when the leaves are shredded. The rhubarb photo is astonishing. image

     

    Erm, well, the leaves were shredded a fair bit - not completely but there were definitely some bits of leaf lying about and holes in others...(You can't see the other plants in the photo).

    Anyway, with any luck they'll get better soon.

     

     

  • SP42SP42 Posts: 5

    P.S: Thanks for all your help and advice everyone! Appreciated.

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