Appreciation post: My tomato plant that survived a hail storm last month

Three years ago I started with just one sad basil plant on my 5th floor balcony in Chicago. Last month that crazy hail storm came through and shredded half my leaves... but my cherry tomato plant bounced back and now I'm getting about 15 ripe ones a week. Has anyone else had a plant surprise you by surviving something rough?

3 comments

3 Comments

barnes.brian1mo agoMost Upvoted

Shredded half my leaves" and it still came back? That's wild.

the_claire1mo ago

Give it a good dose of fish emulsion or a balanced liquid fertilizer right after the storm, that usually helps them push out new growth fast. Pinch off any leaves that are too torn up so the plant puts energy into the healthy ones.

the_nina1mo ago

My jasmine got absolutely hammered by a storm about two years ago, lost almost all its leaves overnight. I ended up pinching off the worst of them like @the_claire said, then just gave it some plain compost tea every two weeks after that. It came back way faster than I expected, maybe three months and it was fuller than before. The torn leaves really do suck the energy out of the plant if you leave them on, so that part is key. Sometimes they bounce back even stronger if you just give them a little time.