I know first hand how discouraging it is but there is hope. You will be surprised I think by how much will come back with just a bit of extra care. Tomato plants are famous for recovery. If they are indeterminate varieties new shoots will quickly develop from the stem axis. But do not feed them until they show signs of new growth as that just stresses them more..

If determinate varieties then recovery and production isn't as good. They do come back but much of the production may be lost so see if replacements are available and if not try rooting some cuttings off the existing plants if any growth tips are left. Lots of info on the Tomato forum on how to do it.

There is still plenty of time to reseed the squash (courgettes) if it shows no new growth within a couple of days.

The peppers may be more difficult as they are more slow to recover. If transplants are available I would replace those for best results. If not then just leave yours and given enough time you will some recovery from them.

Eggplants (aubergines) recovery is all going to depend on how much damage was done. It is possible but I'd look for replacements.

So other than the squash it will all depend on the availability of replacements. But it is still early enough in your zone to have a good garden.

Good luck.

Dave

Dave knows what he's talking about. I just have to add that I broke the main stem (all the leaves above cotyledons) on a pepper plant a month or so ago (still in 6 packs so left the stub), figured it wouldn't do anything. Put the top in water and nope, no roots (not like tomato) but it has gotten new leaves from the broken stem! Even though the growing tip was broken off! I've cut peppers way back to overwinter, but nothing as drastic as this, I was happy to see that it survived. So if some of your peppers are irreplaceable, just leave them in the ground (as long as what's left isn't woody already) and you may get happy surprise too!

It's such a sinking feeling to have one's garden pummeled by hail. Almost every year we get at least one if not several hail storms. One year we had a pretty bad episode and the whole neighborhood needed new roofs. When I made my claim to the insurance man I mentioned to him the damage to the garden. He just sort of dismissed that idea.

Anyways in a few days to a week you'll probably get a good idea what is salvageable or not. It never looks pretty after the storm but in a few weeks it'll be kind of normal again. Good luck.

I've been working on some hail protection this year. It hasn't had a good test yet (not that I really want it tested). In theory my system should diffuse most of the damaging hail.

{{gwi:74644}}

Thanks a lot guys. It's good to hear from people who understand who upsetting it is.

Dave, thanks for the advice. My toms were all indeterminates, so yes I think quite a few of them might just put out new growth. However, wouldn't that sort of damage set them back so much that I get tomatoes only in say, November?? Wouldn't it be better off just replacing them with new plants for a better harvest? Of course they wouldn't be the same varieties and I wouldn't feel as good about them but still...

I've attached a photo of the damaged eggplant. What do you think?

Thanks again everyone. Once I get over this, I'm goin to look at hail protection too. I am putting things in perspective now and just accepting it as bad luck. There are quite a few vineyards in my region as well as farmers who have lost their crops. That must surely be a thousand times worse!

Your eggplant will make it. I see three axillary buds where new shoots will emerge.

Just an update - I was going to throw out the top of the pepper seedling I was trying to root in water, but it has 2 tiny roots now (weeks later!). So may be too late to plant in garden for you if you do this (maybe you've already composted the tops of your plants), but it does work, though they're much slower at it than tomatoes. I plan on putting this one in a pot and trying to keep it til next year.

Very sorry to hear about your hail storm. Last year we had one, nothing like yours, but big for here, and it severed the growth points of some of my tomatoes and watermelons. They all made it, but it took a little while for them to recover. Your tomatoes should come back strong.