How To Use Milk Jugs to Protect Seedlings From Frost

A vegetable cloche made from a plastic milk jug or juice bottle will protect your tomato plants and other seedlings from wind, snow, frost, rabbits, birds, and other critters. It will also trap sunlight and increase warmth which encourages growth, much like a mini-greenhouse.

It seems like every season, gardeners have a race to see who can grow the most tomatoes the earliest in the season.  Who doesn’t want to post a picture on facebook of their first tomatoes, especially when they know everyone else’s are puny? This takes a little cooperation from Mother Nature, mostly with warm nights and no late frosts, but I also have a little trick to help you set out your tomato seedlings early, a full 4 weeks before your last frost date. Learn when you can expect your last frost.

Cover your seedlings at night with a modified plastic milk jug or juice bottle, known as a cloche.

Cloches have been used for hundreds years by gardeners and farmers in one form or another. It’s a practice that dates back to the early market gardens in France when farmers used to grow crops in cold temperatures and protect the crops with large, bell-shaped glass jars. Today, any food grade glass or tall, clear plastic container works as a vegetable cloche for home gardeners. It’s also a very thrifty solution. Cloches can be used to protect any type of vegetable seedlings or frost-sensitive annuals. It’s also great at deterring rabbits from nibbling on your plants.

How to make a vegetable garden cloche from a plastic milk jug

• Cut the bottom out of the milk jug or juice bottle ON THREE SIDES. The 4th side will act as a flap to anchor the cloche.
• When you place the milk jug over one of your seedlings, fold the bottom out and away from the plant and anchor the flap with a rock or a brick. This will keep the milk jug from blowing away in the wind.
• Save the caps or lids for the milk jugs, because you’ll need them too. At night, place the lids on the jugs to protect the plants from frost or very cold air. In the morning, remove the caps to allow the inside of the jug to dry (moisture will collect on the inside from the plant’s transpiration), and to allow the air surrounding the plant to warm.
• If it’s going to be a very warm day, remove the jug completely and let the seedling bathe in that beautiful sunlight and warm air.

Start those seedlings early, protected with the modified milk jugs, and you’ll be enjoying your tomatoes and other veggies weeks before your neighbors!