Hurricane Arthur left considerable damage to vegetable
crops. Injury to the crops would depend
on the intensity of the wind in the area.
Severe wind caused leaf defoliation, leaf tearing and shredding, stem
breakage, stem bruising and wounding.
Effects of Arthur on vegetable crops and recovery of the crops
will depend on a number of factors including the type of vegetable, stage of
growth, weather conditions immediately after the storm, and prevalence of
disease organisms. Growers should
begin a fungicide program immediately to prevent any disease spread as
continued hot weather poses a risk of increasing disease incidence.
Defoliation reduces leaf area and plants will need to grow
new leaves from buds (for vegetables such as vine crops where this is
possible). It may take from a week up to
several weeks for crops to regrow the leaf area lost. This may cause delays in maturity and lower
yields. The more mature crops were, the heavier
the yield losses that can be expected.
In order to speed up plant recovery, additional nutrients
(mainly nitrogen) will be needed for plants to recover.
