We got a 3-4-foot storm surge during Ike. Thus about a third of our low-lying yard was under salt water for 18 to 24 hours. The ground was finally firm enough today for me to tour the damage. Four Mexican flame vines, several Texas lantana as well as other lantana do not appear to have survived. If they are still alive, how long do y'all think it'll take to see some signs of life? Also, should I cut them back?
I have a lot of work to do out there!
storm surge recovery questions
I have no experience in dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane, but I would imagine that cutting back any plant in stress would be a good idea. If you trim back too much, though, that might stress the plant even more, so don't cut it back to the roots. I'd watch them for a few weeks and see if you get new growth. Are the branches still "green" when you nick them? If so, then that's a promising sign.
If you can get your hands on some garden gypsum dump plenty of it all over your garden. It will add calcium without changing the pH which is a good thing, but the best part is that is binds with salt so your plants can't take it up. Gypsum is what saved many Charleston gardens after Hurricane Hugo. Apply it heavily.
Thanks so much! I actually have some gypsum that I have used from time to time. And yes, there's still some green on some plants. It's hard to tell on my flame vine because I was so busy swatting away little bugs around my face as I was inspecting! The mosquitos are out in full force too.
I have very salty soil anyway so my plants were chosen for their salt tolerance. However, being salt tolerant doesn't mean that they can be awash in salt water.
Don't now if you would be interested or not but Eric over on the composting threads in AZ works for EM America and I had asked him at one time about restoring my ground if I dumped a bunch of salt water where the bamboo was growing so I would be able to plant without waiting for the salt to all go away and he told em to use the EM1 and in 6 mos I would be able to plant.
their site has alot of information on it in regards to effective micro orgasms
http://www.emamerica.com//
and if I remember correctly he mentioned at one time they had gone down to New Orleans after Katrina and helped in clean up using it
the main office is in Alto Texas
just a thought
Randy Lemmon, a Houston garden author/expert addressed this on his weekly radio show "Garden Line". His show is on KTRH radio. He himself has a beach home with plants that sustained salt water immersion. You could load the weekend shows on podcast and listen to what he said, or email your question to him. I didn't have that kind of damage, so I don't quite remember what he said. Good luck to you!
Here's the link: (ignore all the ads and search last weekend's radio broadcast)
http://www.ktrh.com/pages/gardenline.html
I got this info from Randy Lemmon's weekly email tips in my inbox today. hope this helps..nancy
September. 25, 2008
Here's Randy's Weekly KTRH GardenLine Tip:
Issue #85
Soil Remediation with Soil Activators
Besides downed trees, the most often-asked question I've been getting on both the radio show and via emails have to be about salt water damage following Hurricane Ike and the storm surge. The simplest way to recover turf and landscape beds following salt water damage is to use soil activators, or anything that can re-build the microbial health to the soils saturated in salts.
Medina Soil Activator has been used on arid soils that are high in sodium salts for almost 40 years with good success. In fact, it was the results on rice land that had been flooded with ocean salt water that helped to generate sales for the newly established company in 1962. When Hurricane Carla came on the Texas Gulf Coast it brought salt water on many of the rice fields. Salt content was so high that the rice would not germinate. After one application of Medina Soil Activator used at the rate of 1 gallon per acre several months before planting the new rice was growing in the salty soils again.
So, following Ike here are the recommendations from the Medina Company in using soil activators and other organic amendments for the remediation of soils.
1. Soils very high in salts
A. Apply 1 gallon Medina Soil Activator, 1 gallon Medina 12% Humate Humic Acid, and 2.5 gallons Medina 8% Liquid calcium to the acre. These products can be tank mixed and diluted to the necessary volume to accommodate the application equipment being employed.
B. After application, disk to incorporate the products into the top layer of soil.
C. Wait three weeks and plant barley or other salt tolerant plant. When growth reaches 10 to 15 inches in height, disk in the crop and apply 1 gallon of Medina Soil Activator, 1 gallon Medina 12% Humate Humic Acid and 2.5 gallons Medina 8% Liquid Calcium.
D. Wait four to six weeks and plant the intended cash crop. It is best to plant a salt tolerant cash crop the first season.
E. Continue to apply 1 gallon Medina Soil Activator and 1 quart Humate Humic Acid per acre at the end of each harvest for maintenance.
2. Soils medium to high salts
A. Apply 1 gallon of Medina Soil Activator and 1 gallon Medina 8% Liquid Calcium per acre at least two weeks before planting. If possible, make this application on the crop stubble after harvest of the previous crop. Disk to incorporate.
B. After each harvest, continue to use 1 gallon of Medina Soil Activator and 1 quart Humate Humic Acid per acre for maintenance.
Granted, these recommendations are for agricultural land, so to make it easy for the homeowner in recovering turf areas and typical landscape beds, use the Soil Activator once every two weeks (you can use it every week, if you so desire with no negative results) along with the Humates or Molasses. The application rate recommended for Salt Remediation in lawns and landscapes is 6 or 8 ounces per gallon of water. Then saturate the soil. Three to four applications should be enough for most turfgrasses.
If you need even more confirmation of this, first listen to our interview with Stuart Franke with Medina. He goes through the benefits of soil activator in areas saturated with salt water.
Finally, you can also see an interview with a gentleman who saved a commercial landscape business following Hurricane Katrina in the Alabama area.
Thanks - that is very interesting. I don't think my soil got that bad, though. I've actually planted a couple of things and they're still living!