What’s the Best Frost Cloth for Plants During Winter? Donna Larson, October 25, 2024October 25, 2024 If you’re gardening in Fall and Winter for the first time, you might be wondering what’s the best frost cloth for plants during Winter? Best Frost Cloth for Plants Frost cloth is sold by size and thickness. I say that the best frost cloth for plants is the thickest one that you can afford. Determine what size you will need to use as a row cover or raised bed covering, then find the thickest available in that size. Remember to account for the space over your plants, not just the footprint of the garden bed. When to Use Frost Cover Use your frost cloth even when expecting a light frost. Remember the forecast doesn’t reflect microclimates throughout your zip code. Know your property through the growing season. Frost can happen long before freezing temperatures arrive. For example, here in North Florida, we will receive some damp, cold air that brings us frost in October or November. However, we don’t usually see 32° F until at least December, and not likely until January. Keep frost covers on hand before you think you might need them in Fall as frost can come as warm as 40°F. Additionally, don’t put them away in early spring as you might experience surprisingly late frosts that would kill your cold tender plants. How to Use Frost Cloth for Plants Make sure that you use a framework of some sort on your garden beds to keep the cloth from touching the foliage of your growing plants. This gives your plants better protection from the frosty layer that’ll land on the cloth. I like hoops that can easily be set up and taken down, or moved from one area of the garden to another. Creating a tunnel will help keep the weight off of the plants too. When to Use a Lightweight Frost Blanket or Commercial Frost Blanket Frost blankets are a little heavier and are a great option to use for ground cover type plants such as strawberries. These may be laid directing onto your plants for protection when the weather forecast calls for a hard freeze. Frost blankets are also used as tree wrap for tropical plants and trees such as citrus varieties. Best Materials for Frost Protection The best frost cloth for plants are made from garden fleece or polypropylene fabric. They should be UV stabilized and tear resistant for a long lasting product. Polypropylene fabric works by trapping ground heat underneath of itself to keep plants from freezing. It’s engineered to be permeable so it can breathe while remaining solid enough to keep heat from escaping. It’s also translucent enough to allow some sunlight to filter in. Plastic isn’t everyone’s best friend, I know, but hear me out. There is a place for plastic in our gardening or otherwise on our homesteads. PVC irrigation anyone? Used as frost protection, it doesn’t have me concerned about microplastics breaking down in my food or soil. Can You Leave Frost Blankets on During the Day? As long as your plants are getting enough air flow, you can leave the best frost cloth for plants on during the day. If your day warms up too much, I’d remove the blanket if you can so that your garden plants are receiving enough sunshine and fresh air. Don’t forget to cover them again in the evening if you’re expecting colder temperatures again. Can Shade Cloth Be Used as Frost Cloth? This question comes up frequently here in Florida. Perhaps that’s because we use shade cloth a lot more than cold protection coverings. Shade cloth can keep a light frost from settling on your vegetable garden. If your shade cloth is too high, leaving too much space over your plants, frosty air can certainly creep in on a cold night. This will likely kill or damage any frost-sensitive plants that you might have. If shade cloth is what you have to use when danger of frost approaches, consider folding it over to double the thickness, and use it closer to your plants. What About Plastic Covers and Cold Frames? Greenhouse plastic is a great tool to use as protection for cold temperatures. This is actually my favorite option in the garden because it retains warmth, rather than just covering plants to protect from frost. Plastic works as a freeze protection too by using light transmission to hold heat in when the plastic is secured to the ground. You can add water-filled milk jugs, creating thermal mass inside your little low tunnel. The water retains heat and takes longer to freeze than the air. It is especially important to keep the plastic off of the foliage of plants during a freeze or the leaves will die back. This happens because the plastic holds water on the leaves, and the plastic itself reaches freezing temperatures. The direct contact will kill back the foliage thereby damaging your plant. Most importantly, make sure to remove plastic from garden beds as soon as temperatures begin to rise. Remember that under the plastic will be warmer than outside air temperatures. Leaving the plastic on may overheat your cool weather garden plants. This can cause them to bolt or even wilt and die. Cold Frames Building cold frames can be relatively inexpensive and easy. This is something that I’d like to explore more on my own homestead in the near future. My plan is to use cold frames on top of my raised beds. Each bed is 4 feet by 8 feet and topped with a rough cut 2X6 frame. It would be simple to create a frame with 2X2 and 1X2 pieces of lumber. I’ll staple some cheap garden plastic to the frames. From there, they can be easily put on or taken off. Alternatively, building a cold frame that hinges in place on a raised bed might work better for extended periods of cold weather. It would effectively convert a raised bed into a mini greenhouse. I like my plan for my gardens because here in North Florida, we don’t have extended hard freezes. Leaving plastic on when the temperature rises on sunny days will cook those cold-loving plants. What’s the Best Frost Cloth for Plants in Cold Climates? Look for a heavy duty, commercial frost cloth for your coldest of climates. The thicker, the better. What’s the Best Frost Cloth for Plants in Warmer Climates? Warm climates that only experience occasional, light frosts can probably get by with using old bed sheets from a thrift store. No, this won’t hold heat in during a freeze; however, even the thinnest layer can keep frost off of your plants, preventing frost damage. Other Reasons to Use Frost Cloth Besides cold temperatures, frost cloth protection may help to keep your garden safe from the following: torrential rains hail high winds pest pressure Using frost cloth as protection from inclement weather is wise. Hail can unexpectedly damage plants to the point of death in the blink of an eye. Heavy rains can too. Any kind of covering will create a windbreak for your garden plants when you have a windy season. Just be sure to secure the cloth to the ground well with stakes or weights so that the wind doesn’t carry your cloth away. I’ve used frost cloth to keep deer and rabbits from eating their favorite snacks in my garden. Eventually they give up and find somewhere else to forage. Most seasons, I use frost cloth as a protection from cabbage loopers in my brassicas. To do this, I first sprinkle them with Captain Jack’s powdered, organic pest control so that any pests that get trapped in with my plants will be killed quickly instead of providing them with a free buffet. Then I leave the cloth on for most of the growing season, checking on them periodically. Frost cloth is permeable enough to water right through it in most cases. What Not To Use Towels and blankets are far too heavy for your plants. While they may work to keep frost off of them, they’ll smother your garden plants, killing them back. Plant Accordingly It’s super important to know your average first frost date in Fall as well as your average last frost date in Spring. You can play around to push zones, but don’t try to keep a tomato garden in February, (unless you’re in Zone 10). Instead, learn what grows well in your climate during the Fall and Winter months and plant that. You won’t even have to worry about the best frost cloth for plants if you do so. Brassicas like cabbage or brussels sprouts not only thrive in winter, they often taste better after a touch of frost hits them. Broccoli plants can withstand frost also, but if it lands on a broccoli head, those florets are sure to brown. In Spring, know that putting out warm season plants when there’s still a risk of frost is a bit of a gamble. I don’t usually mind taking the risk, but I’m always prepared to cover my spring garden if needed. Which Plants Don’t Need Frost Protection? Here’s a list of our favorite plants that don’t need frost protection: carrots (sweeter carrots after frost) broccoli leaves (protect heads) kale cauliflower leaves (protect heads) collards (less bitterness after frost) mustard turnip radish (not so spicy after frost) potatoes (tops may die back, but they’ll return. Tubers will be fine.) beets tatsoi bok choy chard brussels sprouts chives onions peas (extended frost may damage leaves, but shouldn’t kill them) celery spinach (extended periods of leaves covered in ice may cause mushiness) pak choy Don’t forget that these can withstand frost, but not necessarily a hard freeze. Which Plants Need Frost Protection? Here’s a list of Plants that will die back without protection from frost. Save them for Spring planting or transplanting after your last frost date. legumes (including peanuts and all varieties of southern peas) green beans (or wax beans) tomatoes tomatillos ground cherries squash (both summer or winter varieties) melons corn and popping corn all varieties of peppers eggplant sweet potatoes cucumbers Conclusion of The Best Frost Cloth For Plants There you have it. The best frost cloth for plants is the thickest one that you can afford. We’re also huge fans of using what you’ve got on the homestead. No matter what you use, make sure that you protect your efforts in the winter garden so that you can continue to push the zone, growing a little more of your own food. Happy Gardening! Donna @ Hazel Belle Farm Donna and her family have been homesteading for most of their 20+ years together in some shape or fashion. She currently lives on their 20 acre farm where they grow as much food as possible. What started as a just a few laying hens, has grown into large gardens, pastured poultry, pork, and lamb. They are continuously evolving their small farm to not suit their family’s needs, but also providing to their local community. Donna’s favorite part of the family farm is her self-built micro-dairy, where she gets to love on dairy cows while serving her local community. Milking, cheesemaking, and processing dairy have become the soul of their homestead and the center of their farm. Gardening Homesteading