Salvaging Your Greenhouse After a Heavy Snow Storm
A quick checklist covering potential hazards and steps to take to salvage your greenhouse after a heavy snow storm.
Be aware of potential hazards:
• Sliding snow or ice
• Falling glassAgri:
• Broken frame members
• Severed electrical wires
• Leaking fuel oil or gas
Shut off utilities:
• Disconnect power supply
• Shut of gas supply
• Turn of main water supply
Minimum structural damage:
• Take photos
• Prop up greenhouse frame to prevent further collapse
• Add additional bracing (diagonal at corners)
• Check and tighten frame connections
• Repair glazing
• Close doors and vents
• Open drain pipes
• Provide temporary heat to keep plants from freezing
• Check and repair heating/electrical/water systems
Major structural damage:
• Take photos
• Support frame members for safe entry
• Cut poly if necessary to reduce load on structure
• Clear aisles
• Remove plants to temporary structures or alternate location
• Drain water system
• Cover heating/cooling and materials handling equipment with tarps
Snow removal:
It can be very expensive to remove the snow. You also have to have space for it. If the snow is light, there is not much danger of further collapse. If it is heavy, some growers found that as it settled, melted and refroze, it formed a cocoon next to the greenhouse and didn’t add a lot of pressure. Removing it may cause more damage. If you need the light for the plants, then the snow will have to be removed.
Contact the insurance company.
Rent equipment to remove snow if necessary. Also rent to replace damaged heating/cooling equipment.
CHECKLIST: Salvaging Your Greenhouse After a Heavy Snow Storm (pdf; 73KB)
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Dry Beans
Eggplant
Ethnic Vegetables
Garlic
Horseradish
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce / Leafy Greens
Melons
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Peppers
Potatoes
Pumpkins / Gourds
Radishes
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Snap Beans
Squash - Summer
Squash- Winter
Sweet Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Turnips
Upcoming Events
Niagara Region Vegetable Meeting
August 14, 2024
Clarence Center, NY
We'll start this meeting off at Root Down Farm to hear late season disease management updates in peppers and cole crops, plus current best management practices to limit fungicide resistance. Potato variety recommendations and disease control questions in potatoes will be addressed.
Then we'll head to Kreher's beet field to view and discuss alternative weed control technologies. The beet field is an on-farm demonstration of various flame weeding protocols in comparison with stacked tool cultivation equipment. One or two weeding robots will be on-hand for live demonstrations and discussion of the technology's current abilities and future potential. We'll also cover industry updates and a review of late summer disease management in squash.
2.0 DEC credits will be available in categories 23, 1a, and 10.
2024 Chipping Potato Twilight Meeting
August 20, 2024
Dansville, NY
Join us for a brief, on-farm meeting including insect pest updates and viewing of the chipping potato variety trial. 1.0 DEC credits in categories 10, 1a, and 23 will be offered. Dinner follows!