Will Plastic Sheet Protect From Frost

When to protect your plants.

Will plastic sheet protect from frost.

Frost protection is especially important for tender plants such as geraniums begonias impatiens peppers and tomatoes. Another great way to protect your plants from frost and freezing is to use cold frames. You can buy ready to use cold frames or make one your self. When there is a threat of frost cover your plants before sunset.

Plastic seems like a good idea for frost protection but it s just too thin to provide any insulation to plants. Remove once the danger of frost has passed. Ensure that you cover your freezing temperature tomatoes with plastic or sheets when there is a frost warning. Or use 10 foot pieces of pvc to make hoops over a raised bed and drape with 5 mil painters plastic for some frost protection secure the edges to keep heat in and cold out.

If temperatures below 32 f 0 c are predicted protect your plants. Be sure that you uncover them first thing in the morning. To make a quick cold frame you can place straw bales around your vegetable bed and then cover the top with an old storm window or plastic. A moderate freeze with temperatures in the 25 28 f 4 to 2 c range can be widely destructive to vegetation.

Bedsheets plastic straw hay mulch leaves and anything else you have on hand that will insulate will do the trick in protecting your plants. They need an extra layer to keep the warmth they have in and the frost off. Since frost forms when leaf temperatures dip simply covering the plant isn t going. Move your plants in pots to a well protected wall or garage.

You can also protect. Make sure that a cloth barrier is between the plastic and the plant. For a short cold period low plantings can be covered with mulch such as straw or leaf mold. So when the frost is coming be sure to cover up your tender plants.

Protect your garden with hoops and plastic use a grow tunnel mini greenhouse to protect your plants from overnight frost. These are like portable greenhouses but are much shorter. Wrapping the entire branch system of small trees or shrubs with horticultural frost cloth burlap plastic sheeting or even old bedsheets will keep the temperature underneath a crucial few. Never cover a plant with just plastic however as the plastic will damage the plant.

Use stakes to keep material especially plastic from touching foliage. For added protection when you protect plants in a freeze you can place plastic over the sheets or blankets to help keep warmth in.