How Does Hail Damage Plant Leaves and Stems?
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How does hail damage plant leaves and stems? Hailstones strike a plant with force, and the result is shredded leaves, broken stems, bruised or holed fruit, and sometimes a plant that cannot recover. Two university extension sources describe the same basic pattern: the size of the stones, the amount of hail, the time of year and the wind all shape how much harm a garden takes. This explainer sets out what those sources describe, how the damage shows up, and where the sources stop.
Quick answer
- Hail damages leaves and stems by physical impact, leaving torn or shredded leaves, broken stems and holes in fruit.
- The amount of damage depends on hailstone size, how much hail falls, the time of year and the wind speed.
- A plant that keeps an unbroken stem and some leaves will often recover, but it recovers slowly and may flower or harvest later.
- Wounds can let disease and pest insects in, so the common steps are removing badly damaged tissue, watering evenly and not fertilizing until the plant has recovered.
What hail does to plant tissue
The University of Nebraska fact sheet on hail describes the typical damage in plain terms: impact from hailstones can damage leaves, stems and fruit. The same sheet explains that the size of the hailstone, the amount of hail, time of year, and the wind speed plays a big role in the amount of damage to plant material. In other words, a light shower of small stones and a severe storm with large stones can leave very different gardens behind.
The Maryland Grows post, written by a Montgomery County Master Gardener after a storm that hit another gardener’s plot hard, shows what this looks like on real plants. The author describes eggplant leaves that were hurt on a container garden and a set of tomatoes where it looked as though some of the main stems were snapped. Chard leaves in the same garden were so damaged that the author suggested removing the worst of them. The post gives a useful picture of the range of damage, from small nicks to whole plants that have lost most of their top growth.
Both sources treat hail as one of several physical causes of plant injury. The Maryland post notes that about half of all plant problems are caused by abiotic factors, which include not just weather but also soil factors, watering errors and herbicide drift. That means a plant with torn leaves may have been hit by hail, but a plant that looks similar after a storm may also be suffering from something else.
Reading the damage: what is still alive
The first job after a hailstorm is to look at what remains. The Maryland post gives a simple test: does the plant still have an unbroken stem, even if it is shortened, and are there leaves on it? If so, the post says, the plant will probably come back, but the gardener should expect recovery time, so flowering or harvest will be later.
Annuals and perennials are treated differently. For annuals, the post says it may be easier to start over with a new plant, especially early in the season. Severely damaged perennials may also need to go. Trees and shrubs usually come through, though broken branches should be removed. The Nebraska sheet adds that corrective pruning of broken branches is best done from the ground when it is safe to do so, and that a homeowner who cannot reach the damage safely may need to hire an arborist.
When pruning a damaged plant, the Nebraska sheet advises caution. It says to cut off severely damaged flowers and stems with a by-pass hand pruner just above a node, and to avoid excessive leaf removal and pruning. Severely hail-damaged leaves can be removed, but the sheet asks gardeners to leave as much green tissue as possible, because that green tissue is needed for photosynthesis and plant recovery.
The Nebraska sheet also gives a clear rule for fruit and vegetables. Remove hail-damaged fruit or vegetables if the damage is severe, before rot begins.
Why damage can spread after the storm
A wound from hail is more than a cosmetic problem. The Maryland post notes that the gardener should consider spraying damaged areas with copper fungicide to hold back disease, and it warns that pest insects may discover holes, especially in fruit or soft stems.
The Nebraska sheet adds a later check. It advises gardeners to monitor plants for signs of cankers on twigs and branches, and to prune those out when they appear.
Neither source gives a detailed explanation of how a wound on a leaf or stem changes the chance of infection. They also do not give a number for how long a wound stays open to disease. The practical advice is clear, but the reasons behind it are only briefly stated.
Care after hail: water, mulch and fertilizer
After the damaged tissue is removed, the sources focus on steady care. The Maryland post says to water regularly but not excessively, mulch, and watch for problems. It adds a firm instruction: do not fertilize until the plant has recovered from the injury. The reason it gives is that new, lush growth will stress a plant that is already hurt, and fresh tender growth is what the next storm would damage.
The Nebraska sheet gives the same advice in shorter form: avoid fertilization until the plant recovers. It also asks gardeners to keep the soil around the plant evenly moist, not soggy or dry, and to mulch with wood chips. The sheet says mulch helps by avoiding weed competition and by moderating soil temperature and moisture, which supports a plant that is trying to regrow.
Both sources warn against extremes in watering. The Maryland post says to water regularly but not excessively, and the Nebraska sheet says to keep the soil evenly moist, not soggy or dry. Neither source gives a schedule, so the timing has to be judged for each garden.
Protecting plants before the next storm
Hail protection is mostly a matter of planning ahead. The Nebraska sheet says the most useful advice is to cover up as much as possible. For potted plants and small trees, it suggests moving them to a temporary protected location or covering the plant material with large empty pots or containers until the threat has passed. It also notes that hoops with floating row cover can help prevent hail damage to vegetable crops.
The Maryland post makes a related point. Moving delicate plants to spots protected by walls or taller plants, and using row covers or other structures in vegetable gardens, can help prevent injury. It also warns that gardeners should not count on rushing out to cover plants when a storm begins, because they may not be home or may not have time.
Supports are useful but limited. The Maryland post says that trellises, tomato cages and stakes help plants stay upright in strong winds and minimize stem damage, but adds that hail can still shred and rip. Staking is worth doing for other reasons, but it should not be seen as hail protection on its own.
How often hail hits
The Nebraska sheet gives a local figure rather than a national one. It reports that an average of 70% of hail reports in Nebraska occur from May to July, based on records from 1955 to 2015. The figure applies to one state, though, and does not tell a gardener in another region what to expect at their own site.
How we chose
We selected two sources that are not retailers and that come from university extension programs: the University of Nebraska hail fact sheet and a University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener blog post. Each one describes damage to garden plants and gives practical steps after a storm. We opened each URL with a plain request on 2026-10-29 and quoted only text that came back from those requests. The Nebraska file is a PDF, and its text was read in full before any claim was drawn from it. The two sources come from different institutions in different states, so they count as independent.
What we could not verify
The sources give practical advice based on observation and extension experience. They do not report controlled experiments, and they do not give measurements that would let a gardener predict how a specific crop will respond to a specific stone size. The advice is consistent across both sources, but the depth of the explanation is limited.
What the sources do not say
The sources do not give a hailstone diameter at which a particular vegetable, fruit or ornamental is damaged. They do not give yield losses, and they do not say how many days a bruised leaf or a broken stem takes to heal. They do not describe how ice impact tears tissue at the cell level. The Maryland post is a blog written after one storm, so it describes one garden and one set of observations rather than a broad study. The Nebraska sheet is a general landscape fact sheet and does not address vegetable yield or fruit quality in detail. Where a gardener needs those numbers, they will need a different kind of source.
Frequently asked questions
Can a plant survive hail damage to its leaves?
Often, yes. The Maryland post says a plant with an unbroken stem and some leaves will probably come back, though recovery takes time and flowering or harvest may be later. A plant that has lost its stem and most of its leaves may be better replaced, especially if it is an annual early in the season.
Should I cut off hail-damaged leaves?
Remove leaves that are badly shredded, but leave as much green tissue as possible. The Nebraska sheet says severely damaged leaves can be removed while the plant keeps enough green tissue for photosynthesis and recovery. Heavy pruning of an otherwise healthy plant is not what either source recommends.
Should I fertilize a plant after hail?
No, not right away. The Maryland post says not to fertilize until the plant has recovered from the injury, because new lush growth stresses a damaged plant. The Nebraska sheet gives the same instruction, asking gardeners to avoid fertilization until the plant recovers.
Does hail damage fruit on vegetables?
Yes. The Nebraska sheet says that if the damage is severe, hail-damaged fruit or vegetables should be removed before rot begins. The Maryland post notes that pest insects may find holes in fruit or soft stems, which is another reason to remove badly damaged produce.
How can I protect plants from hail?
Plan ahead. Move potted plants and small trees to a protected spot or cover them with large containers when a storm is forecast. Use hoops with floating row cover over vegetable crops where practical, and place delicate plants near walls or taller plants. Both sources stress that protection needs to be ready before the storm, not set up during it.
For more on what the plant does after a wound opens, see why intense sunlight damages leaves, and for the way fungi enter damaged tissue, see how the botrytis fungus kills plant cells.
Sources
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, “Hail,” Weather-Ready Landscapes fact sheet (written by John Fech, Kelly Feehan, Elizabeth Killinger, David Lott, Ashley Mueller and Tyler Williams, 2018). https://hles.unl.edu/sites/unl.edu.ianr.extension.community-environment/files/media/file/Hail.pdf (opened 2026-10-29)
- Erica Smith, “Hail damage in vegetable (and other) gardens,” Maryland Grows, University of Maryland Extension, June 7, 2019. https://marylandgrows.umd.edu/2019/06/07/hail-damage-in-vegetable-and-other-gardens/ (opened 2026-10-29)
