Watch My Food Grow ~ A South Florida Raised Vegetable Garden

Florida Backyard Raised Vegetable Garden

Wind Issue in the Garden

November 4th, 2013 by Lila Steinhoff

Weather Fronts Are Windy

There is a cool front moving into south Florida, and it has blown steadily for more than 48 hours. I checked the weather report earlier today to find the wind was 17 mph sustained with gusts to 36 mph.

The wind is great for shutting off the A/C and opening windows. However, the constant wind was drying out the garden very fast, and I found out that it was pounding my eggplant. That was something that hadn’t even occurred to me.

Eggplant Suffers with the Wind

eggplant in the wind Windblown Eggplant

I planted eggplant for the first time this October. It has very large leaves like yellow squash and zucchini.  Large leaves really take a beating with high winds, but  I found something else that was even more serious.

roots coming out of the groundEggplant Stems

The wind was blowing hard and kept changing directions. I noticed that the stems of the eggplant were moving so hard from side to side that they were digging a hole around the roots. Without support, the roots would eventually have pulled out of the ground.

Trellises

Last spring, I found a fantastic sale on small trellises from Lowes Home Improvement Store. These metal trellises are much better than the most inexpensive small trellises that I have found other places. They are heavy, sturdy, powder-coated so they won’t rust, and they are easy to move around. At 12 inches wide and 36 inches tall, they are a perfect height for most plants. I bought a dozen of them and have  found many uses for them.

trellises with eggplantEggplant with Trellises

I put one trellis on each side of  both eggplants. I left only about six inches of room between the two.  The trellises are enough to hold the plants steady and to keep them from being whipped around by the wind. Since they keep the plant from moving very far, they are enough to keep the roots from being pulled out of the ground by the wind. When it quits blowing, I will pull the trellises up and save them for the next garden emergency.

I keep learning new stuff with this garden.

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  • That wind has been something with my garden, too. My eggplants are about 4 feet tall or more but for some reason this year they are not pollinating. Everything else is and I see lots of bees buzzing around. Usually I have so many eggplant I can’t eat them fast enough.

    • This is my first attempt to grow eggplant. One of the 2-foot tall plants has two blooms on it, but no fruit has set, yet.

      Went out this morning to water and check the plants. The wind is tearing up the stems of the 6-inch tall green beans and broccoli, too. I piled soil up around each one. I’m hoping that will be enough to keep the roots in the ground until it quits blowing.

  • Very timely. I just put in my garden about 2 weeks ago and the came the wind!! I hope to do some light trimming tomorrow. How are your worms? Best wishes, Bob

    • I’m waiting a few more days until the wind dies back a little more. The large leaves on the eggplant are shredded, and the flowers were blown off the plants. Will have to trim them. Piling mounds of dirt around the green beans and broccoli saved most of them.

      I still have worms, but my compost seems to dry out very fast. I am getting ready to build a top that completely covers the opening. I think that will keep it moist and keep little green things from sprouting. I did move a handful of worms to each garden box. It’s an experiment. We will see what happens.