What Should You Do With a Tower Garden in a Hurricane and How Can You Continue to Grow?

What Should You Do With a Tower Garden in a Hurricane?

It’s that time of year. We’re heading into the peak of Hurricane Season and we’re hoping these storms are going to fizzle out in the middle of the Atlantic. But what should you do with your Tower Garden in a hurricane?

Who am I kidding?  It’s 2020.  🤦‍♀️

But seriously though, if you live in the South or East regions of the US you likely have a Hurricane plan with your family already.  With a little thought, you can add your Tower Garden to that plan too!

IMPORTANT: Always follow local authorities’ emergency management for announcements regarding evacuations.

When Hurricane Isaiah skirted the Florida coast earlier this month, the most common question I saw posted in the official Tower Garden group, Tower to Table #towergarden was “What should I do with my Tower Garden in a Hurricane?  Don’t worry, we’ll break it down for you!

Secure your Tower Garden

If a storm is imminent, and you are bringing in and securing outside furniture, do not leave your Tower Garden in a Hurricane.  Your neighbors sure would appreciate fewer flying objects when the winds pick up.

I’ve seen some say they were bringing their Tower Garden close to the house and wrapping it with a sheet.  Personally, I wouldn’t want to do this.  Crops can easily get damaged in winds of 30+ mph and a sheet is not going to protect a Tower Garden in a Hurricane.

What about my plants?

Don’t worry.  You are only bringing it inside while the worst of the storm passes.  As soon as the wind subsides you can move it back outside. That’s generally only going to be 24-36 hours. As long as they are not seedlings they’ll be fine for a couple of days with no light.

Seedlings are a different matter and they are much more affected by lack of light than mature crops are.

I don’t have a dolly and it’s too heavy, how can I move it?

Think back to the day you unpacked and set up your Tower Garden.  In the box, there was a clear hose that was about 3 feet long.  This is your drainage hose.  You can take the shower cap lid off the top of the Tower, slide the drainage hose over the center feeder tube, and with the pump running you can partially drain the Tower.  If you have some 5-gallon buckets or containers, fill them and add the water to the Tower when you move it back outside. If you drain your tower to about 1/4 to 1/2 full, two adults should be able to pick it up and move it fairly easily.

I have some large plants in my Tower.  What should I do about those?

If you can carefully move them inside, do so.  Otherwise, you might need to harvest what you can and give it a good healthy prune (check this video for pruning tomatoes). Don’t worry too much.  It will put out new flowers in no time and will still be faster than starting again with a new seed or seedling.

Do I need to plug it in inside?

You really won’t need to if it’s only going to be inside for a day in a home with AC running.  If you find it starts to wilt a little, plug it back in for up to 15 minutes and it should bounce back.

Our power has gone out, what should we do?

You have a few options here and it’s a good idea to think about and plan for these in advance.

• If you have a generator you can run it off of that as needed. If your generator is a hot commodity and you need to rotate the items plugged into it, plug it straight into the generator without the timer.  This will ensure it is running and not going through an “off” portion of the timer.
• If it’s inside and your power is out you can carefully pour water down the shower cap as needed.  It won’t wilt as quickly as it does outside as it isn’t in direct sun.
• If the wind has passed and you are able to take it outside, but you are still without power or a generator, I recommend taking each individual plant out.  Get some small totes (large will work too, just don’t fill them all the way) and put each plant’s roots in the water.  You don’t have to use nutrients, but you can use water from your Tower, or the water you drained earlier. Just be sure the roots are in the water but the plant itself is not.

That’s it really.  Just add it to your family’s Hurricane plan and keep an eye on the storm.  If in doubt, don’t leave it out! With a little planning, you’ll have fresh veggies in a storm.

Do you have any other tips I have missed for looking after your Tower Garden in a Hurricane? Do you have some questions I haven’t covered? Leave them below and we’ll get back to you!

As it’s summertime, be sure to read 10 Summer Tower Garden Growing Tips to Ensure Success.