Fishtails & Bamboo save orchard from Irma

[Okie]

Here are a few photos from the aftermath of hurricane Irma.  I have a 5 acre tropical fruit orchard in Merritt Island, Florida.  I used fishtail palms on the east facing side for privacy and a wind break.  The south site is Buddha belly bamboo. Behind the fishtail palms are lychee and longan trees.  I think the fishtails and bamboo did a good job taking the brunt of the storm.

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Okie

[DoomsDave]

Thanks for sharing!

Did the storm blow salt water onto the plants? Looks a bit like it.

[Okie]

I'm not sure but most trees around here are brown on the southeast side. Someone suggested "wind burn", but what exactly is wind burn?

Edited September 18, 2017 by Okie

[Palmaceae]

I don't think that is wind burn, looks like salt water burn. I had 100 mph winds and no wind burn, at least not like that. I am on the west coast and had NE winds.

Edited September 18, 2017 by Palmaceae

[DoomsDave]

14 hours ago, Okie said:

I'm not sure but most trees around here are brown on the southeast side. Someone suggested "wind burn", but what exactly is wind burn?

Wind burn used to be something we'd deal with in Ohio, when it got cold in the winter, and dry winds would partially desiccate some "evergreens" like Yew, Pine, etc.

I've seen something similar here in California where the Santa Ana winds dry out the exposed portions of some trees or shrubs.

I think Pastor Randy has the right idea.

[MOlivera]

I live in north of Okie and I noticed the same thing. The east side of the trees here are brown and these are approximately 4 miles from the ocean. I think it's some kind of wind burn or dehydration of the leaves due to the winds. Even bald cypress and live oaks had this kind of burn

[palmfriend]

Hello there,

It is always good to learn something about wind breaking plants - so, thank you very much for

posting! 

Here on our island the locals say, it is the salt that goes into the plant and dries it out from the inside.

Right after a typhoon the plants are looking shaken or damaged but they are still green. Then, usually

after three, four days - when the wind is long gone - they start to look really awful. Not all of them,

of course, but many. I am no expert but I would tend to salt burn because of the timing when the 

burning appears.

 

best regards -

Lars

PS: I was told that cinnamon trees were used large scale on Ishigaki island - south of us - as wind breaker to

protect farm land. I have got one in the ground since spring and it didn't even blink when typhoon Talim 

"visited" us two weeks ago.

 

[IHB1979]

I'm a couple miles from Okie on beachside and at first I was thought this was salt damage but after reading the duration of winds from Irma, I think it may have been wind or combination of both. This area is notorious for salt spray coming ashore with the sea breezes, I can only imagine that the strong onshore winds from a hurricane would amplify the salt spray.

Scott Spratt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne who is overseeeing damage assessments for a 10-county area, said Brevard saw tropical storm force winds – 39 mph and higher – for between 18 and 24 hours rather than just for a few hours during Matthew. The county saw 8-10 hours of damaging winds of 55-70 mph, Spratt said.