@sanBois This year…. I did a little preventative….  Before I spread plant out and staked it down.. I ran duct tape all around the bottom .  Weaved it back and forth a bit. Just in case.  I have noticed a small and some medium size splits had occurred later on.   Growing pains… lol.  but not one branch was lost.  It just kept on a going… Also, made me feel better with that extra support during a wind storm.      Once I seen them. I ran some black stretchy electrical tape (easy to work with) around a couple times to seal up the crack.  Keep anything bad out).   Hahah that and a little good luck , seemed to be good for me this year.     
I always enjoy your pics!!    You got it going on…. Just mentioned this for any outside growers who migh want to try the tape thing before a real bad split.  Been there done that….  😊