Four hundred thousand plants filled Gude Brothers Greenhouse’s 67,000-square-foot facility just a couple weeks ago in Middletown, Md. Now, owner Larry Gude hopes 100,000 of those plants are salvageable.
Gude Brothers lost an estimated $750,000 in plants earlier this month when large sections of its structures caved due to the weight of snow. Nearly half the Gude Brothers facility is ruined, Gude says, and Hortica is assessing the damages.
“We do petunia baskets,” Gude told The Frederick News-Post. “We filled 5,000 baskets with soil. They were all sitting on the tables. Now they’re covered with snow and glass.
“I went into shock.”
In addition to the estimated $750,000 in plant loss, the structural damage may add up to $1 million. You can watch video of the collapsed Gude Brothers greenhouses.
Gude Brothers isn’t the only operation battling snow–although its snow damage is just about as extreme as it gets. Growers and retailers on FreshAirForum.com are faced with snow challenges, too. One grower–in Dallas, Texas, no less–spent 12 hours last week shoveling, scraping and blowing 12 inches of snow off unheated greenhouses.