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Pennock Minnesota

I have had a real tough time with the wind and it has been an up hill battle ever since I took off the wall-o-water off of my transplants in the first week of june. All of my premium (paid for) plants died when the wind came up a week after they were out. The wind whipped them back and forth until they snapped of and blew away. Out of the twenty plants half of them snapped and the others wilted and died except for the two. They are making a recovery now and I have straw bales, old patio doors, sheets of plywood ect... blocking the wind around them. How long will I have to have these windbreaks up? I have corn planted on the north side and snow fence around the rest. The snow fence did not block the wind as I had thought it would. I have the plants staked down and buried. Will the mature plants fare the wind better or are they just as fragile?
Eric (Central Minnesota first time grower)

6/16/2000 12:05:28 PM

Linesville,Pa.

the wind can spell disaster as you have unfortunately found out. Once the plant starts vining and the tap roots take hold the plants are less seceptable to the wind. Good luck with your remaining plants.
ernie (nw pa)

6/16/2000 9:11:38 PM

PA

as soon as the vines lay down cut plastic clothes hangers into U shaped pins and put them over the vines into the soil. Let some space over the vine so it has room because the vine will get thicker. Also check the pins occasionally to make sure they're not pinching anything. Shoveling soil really helps too. I started when the main vine was about 3-4 feet long. I let some space around the base stump. The soil mounding also is supposed to promote more root growth. This is my third year and wind is my biggest problem. I have made 6'x7' mini-greenhouses out of floating row cover, flexible pvc pipe, some short pieces of metal pipe I pound in the groud to hold the pvc pipe hoops,and then some 1x1 scrap wood strips 7' long to put on top of the pvc hoops taped together for reinforcment. There is some cost in this but they really work well. If it's windy but warm you can take the reemay partly off. But it will still block some wind. Once the plants outgrow this they're big enough to cover with soil and pins further out on the vine. One thing I should mention is I don't think you should cover the pins with soil, just use them further out on the vine or remove them when your ready to cover with soil. I'm experimenting with how far to cover the vines this year. I'm no expert but I hope this helps
Amy

6/18/2000 2:01:54 PM