October to December is cyclone season on the Coromandel coast. Puducherry, Cuddalore, Chennai and the delta districts have all seen strong storms in recent years – Cyclone Fengal crossed the coast near Puducherry in late November 2024. For anyone with a terrace, balcony or rooftop garden, a few hours of preparation before a storm warning can be the difference between a bent stem and a lost plant. Here is a simple checklist you can follow every time the IMD issues a cyclone or heavy-rain alert for your area.
1. Act early – the day the warning comes
Do not wait for the wind to start. Once a depression is forecast to intensify, plan your plant work for daylight hours. Walk around your terrace and sort your plants into three groups: small pots you can move indoors, medium pots you can shift to a sheltered corner, and large or heavy pots that must stay where they are.
2. Bring small and hanging pots inside
Hanging baskets, railing planters and small pots are the first things wind picks up – and they can injure people or break windows. Take down every hanging pot and keep it in a verandah, staircase or bathroom until the storm passes. Succulents, cactus and small foliage plants can sit together on the floor near a window. If you grow on a balcony, hanging pots with hangers are easy to unhook and re-hang once the weather clears.
3. Group, lower and anchor the bigger pots
- Move them close to a wall on the side away from the open sea or open ground. A parapet wall breaks much of the wind.
- Group pots tightly together. A cluster of pots supports itself better than single pots standing alone.
- Lay tall, light plants on their side if they cannot be moved – a pot laid down on purpose is better than one that snaps its stem.
- Tie young fruit plants to a stake with soft cloth or jute, not wire. Loose ties allow some movement without breaking bark.
Heavy, wide-base pots stay put far better than thin, light ones. If your fruit plants are still in thin nursery bags, once the storm passes is a good time to shift them into a heavy-duty 10 inch grower pot or larger.
4. Protect the roots from waterlogging
Cyclones bring a lot of rain in a short time. Often the worst damage is not broken branches but root rot from pots left sitting in water for days.
- Check that every drainage hole is open. Poke a stick through if soil has blocked it.
- Raise pots on bricks or pot stands so water can run out from the bottom.
- Empty saucers and trays completely before the rain starts.
- Clear terrace drain outlets of fallen leaves so water does not pool around your pots.
5. Skip feeding and pruning just before the storm
Do not add fertiliser in the days before a cyclone – heavy rain will wash it out, and soft new growth is easily torn. Light pruning of dead or weak branches is fine, but leave major pruning until after the season.
6. After the storm: a quick recovery routine
- Stand fallen pots back up and press the soil gently around the base of the plant.
- Top up washed-out soil with fresh potting mix. A little red soil or cocopeat helps refill pots that lost their top layer.
- Cut away broken stems cleanly with a sharp, clean blade.
- Tip out standing water and let pots drain for a day before watering again.
- Watch for fungus on leaves and stems over the next week; remove spotted or rotting leaves early.
- Hold off on fertiliser for a week or two until you see new growth.
Plan your garden for the season
Gardeners on the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast can still grow beautiful terrace gardens – the trick is planning for October to December. Keep tall plants in sturdy, heavy pots, keep small and hanging pots easy to move, and make good drainage a habit. If a storm does damage your plants, most potted plants bounce back well with a little care once the sun returns.
Looking to replace plants after the season? Browse our fruit plants and grower pots – we pack every plant carefully at our Perambai nursery and deliver across India.