- #1
rhody
Gold Member
- 681
- 3
I will get right to the point, a grower of super hot peppers in Florida has almost 10,000 plants of twenty eight varieties in pots, 3 - 10 gallon pots, forced drip irrigated.
Many plants are near fully grown, they are staked in their pots to hold them up as needed, and all are under a sideless canopy with 50% sun block material on top.
Last week, during high winds, 30+ mph about 850 of them, were knocked over with some degree of damage. Other then planting them in the ground what cost effective solutions could be used to protect them, any idea is not too far fetched. There is plenty of brain power here, and not to tap it would be a waste.
My first inclination is for some kind of teepee like structure over the plants with some kind of mesh to soften wind effects, but that could be time consuming and pricey. Keep in mind cost versus benefit when thinking about the problem. He is considering putting them in the ground, but then he has to deal with the nematoad problem which is the reason he went with pots in the first place. At the time the pots were the lesser of all evils which is now under scrutiny.
The amount of loss from broken branches and subsequent risk of virus infections through open plant wounds is significant. There is short term damage, loss of branches and pods to deal with. Second, possible long term catastrophic plant damage to deal with from viral infections.
Thanks folks...
Rhody...
Many plants are near fully grown, they are staked in their pots to hold them up as needed, and all are under a sideless canopy with 50% sun block material on top.
Last week, during high winds, 30+ mph about 850 of them, were knocked over with some degree of damage. Other then planting them in the ground what cost effective solutions could be used to protect them, any idea is not too far fetched. There is plenty of brain power here, and not to tap it would be a waste.
My first inclination is for some kind of teepee like structure over the plants with some kind of mesh to soften wind effects, but that could be time consuming and pricey. Keep in mind cost versus benefit when thinking about the problem. He is considering putting them in the ground, but then he has to deal with the nematoad problem which is the reason he went with pots in the first place. At the time the pots were the lesser of all evils which is now under scrutiny.
The amount of loss from broken branches and subsequent risk of virus infections through open plant wounds is significant. There is short term damage, loss of branches and pods to deal with. Second, possible long term catastrophic plant damage to deal with from viral infections.
Thanks folks...
Rhody...
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