Re: [CH] wind damage to pepper plants
Stallcup, Michael (Michael.Stallcup@nasa.gov)
Wed, 16 Jun 2004 13:19:07 -0500
On Tue, 1 Jun 2004, Jim Graham wrote:
>*WIND*! As the usual nightly t-storms move through, they bring lots
>of wind---something I never realized before that the screens were
>protecting my pepper plants from. Aside from keeping unsightly green
>plastic screens around my plants, does anyone have any ideas for
>preventing pepper plants from being blown over (to where they're laying
>flat on the deck---i.e., just over 90 degrees) and severely damaged?
Hi Folks,
For a long time I have used (and re-used year after year) home-built
cages in my garden around my tomato and chile plants, both tall and
short, bushy and sparse. Maybe you could modify these or adapt them
for use on a deck.
The cages are 18-24 inch in diameter and are made from 6 x 6-inch
welded-wire concrete reinforcing mesh available at building supply
stores. The mesh is about five feet wide, and comes in various
lengths - 50 ft, 75 ft, etc. For a 24-inch cage cut off about 72
inches (3 times the diameter you want), leaving the wire from each
end cell sticking out. Then carefully roll up the cage (wear gloves)
and use the end wire to keep the two edges together. Cut the wire off
all the cells at one end leaving six-inch legs that are pushed into
the ground (or maybe bent 90 degrees to sit under a pot on a deck).
Since a bushy plant catches a lot of wind, it's very important to
drive a 3-5 ft. stake into the ground next to the cage and tie the
cage to the stake. There's a good description with pictures of how
to make the cages here:
http://houseandhome.msn.com/Garden/TomatoTipsBuildtheBestSupports0.aspx.
This web page suggests making cages 30 inches in diameter to enclose
the plants. I prefer to have a smaller diameter cage and allow some
of the plant's branches to stick through the holes which supports
them. Also, chile plants don't need cages with such a large diameter,
18-inch seems OK to me. Although the wire will rust some, these cages
will last quite a few years.
--
Mike (C-H #36, hab seed intact)
Carpe Capsicum!
(My words, not NASA's)