Hail

8 years ago

Hey everyone. I have currently got about 18 Greyhound cabbages that I started in early Sept. for a spring harvest. They've done great and the winter has been very mild so far, so I've only needed to use a single layer of fabric row cover mainly to keep wind chill off. HOWEVER, next week it looks as if winter is starting out with a bang. We won't be above freezing for at least 3 days, maybe up to 5 depending on how much this front pushes down, and temperatures are going to be very cold for lows. The catch with this is hail. They're calling for some bad hail this Saturday followed by snow. My question is: will my row covers hold up to this hail? I'll be doubling or even tripling up, and I may layer some plastic on just for the cold (though maybe not, we'll see how severe it is), but will they just get destroyed by hail? My fabric is AG30. How can I protect them?

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Comments (6)

laceyvail 6A, WV
8 years ago
The cold shouldn't be a problem for the cabbages--my savoy cabbages have done fine under double row covers at 10 degrees. But the hail is different. I think the best you could do is thick row covering and hope the hail isnt' too big.
vgkg Z-7 Va
8 years ago
Do you mean hail or sleet? Hail would be difficult to predict 5 days in advance.
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dirtguy50 SW MO z6a
8 years ago
I am with vgkg about the hail. I am in SW Missouri and associate hail with thunderstorms and not a cold front moving down from the north. It is 23 degrees this beautiful Christmas morning but nothing mentioned about hail anywhere. No mention of sleet to speak of either. Where did you get that forcast?
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
8 years ago
Cold fronts can bring hail, along with serious thunderstorms. North Texas had a bad hail event this last spring that coincided with a cold front rushing through. But predicting hail is like predicting tornadoes. Just isn't done. Like tornadoes, serious hail is an extremely localized event. That being said, most anything can protect plants from hail. Blankets, tarps, sheets, even newsprint. Light hail will bounce off of AG30. Baseball-sized hail will demolish it.
jacoblockcuff (z5b/6a CNTRL Missouri
Original Author
8 years ago
Yes it is very far in advance. This was from the NOAA forecast for Rogers, AR. Weirdly most forecasts (including Weather Channels as well) show it sometimes but then change it the next day, etc. This is the same with the snow. I'll just wait it out and see what happens, maybe we won't get any! They haven't been too accurate lately anyways. If we get big hail, is there any protection measure? I have 6 mil poly plastic but this stuff is expensive, and I would hate to put that on to have it demolished.

My cabbages have survived 5 degrees wind chill and cooler so far uncovered so I'm not too worried about the cold. I'll just double up the fabric to keep the wind chill out as I have a feeling it may be a bit colder than the actual lows.

thanks everyone
Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
8 years ago
My biggest fear whenever hail is mentioned is WIND. When the weather fronts approach that can have hail in the mix there is almost always strong wind. Therefore I would grab more sand bags to hold the Agribon down.