The Farmer's Garden: Wind and Standing Up Plants

Rain mixed with high wind is almost always a bad combination for blowing over tall plants that have weak stems and/or heavy fruit. When this happens, they need to be stood back up to prevent trampling, stay off mold due to the leaves staying contact with a wet ground, enable ease of access to nearby plants, allow for future plowing, ensuring sunlight gets back into contact with the plant, etc.

Recently, a big rain and wind storm came in that blew my corn over. Most didn't break because they're flimsy (high-tech term) enough to withstand breakage, but they did have to be stood up right again. Here are some tips on standing plants back up again.

1. Though plants like tomatoes can be stood back up when young, they really need a structure. If not, when they're taller, they'll most likely break off in a bad wind storm. Corn stalks blow over, but the stalk is strong enough not to break.

2. Be gentle because the stalk/stem is saturated with water and is probably tender. If you are too rough with the plant, it may break and thus defeat the whole purpose.

3. Don't try to stand everything up when the mud is still relatively sloshy. It's too loose and want keep the plant in place when you try to stand it back up. Wait until the mud dries a little just after the storm.

4. Don't wait more than a day or so to stand plants back up. Otherwise, they will begin to take root in their blown over position. Once this occurs, trying to straighten the plant will probably break the stalk/stem and cause further damage.

5. If the plant has been left blown over for too long and roots have already entrenched themselves again, try stand it up some but not too much. At this point, you just have to let the plant grow in an odd direction. This brings much aggravation because it is difficult to get in between plants at this point and various critters are more likely to trample on a plant that is not meant to withstand trampling.

6. Within a few hours, especially if the sun comes out or if it's warm, the ground will begin to firm up as the water evaporates and drains a bit. At this time, bring dirt near the plant, but don't just chunk dirt on the plant, or it may break. Rather, hold the plant up, and then pack dirt around the base of the plant going up 2-6 inches depending on the size of the plant. If the plant still falls down, you may need to pack it more, go up higher on the stem/stalk, or use drier dirt if available (let the mud dry if no extra stored dried dirt is available).

This whole process involved getting dirty, so just put on some old clothes, and get to it. Happy Straigtening!