TexasKitty,
I'm growing veggies in Houston. Last year this time my tomatoes were bearing fruit. I took a big calculated risk planting out the earliest I ever had before. I started the seeds at the Winter Solstice in December, and planted out in mid-February (yes, almost in the middle of winter). But, I had researched and had several frost/freeze contingencies in place.
First, I grow my veggies under pvc HOOPS covered with plastic sheeting. By far, keeping the plants covered against our constantly blowing Texas wind has proven to be a primary factor in the health and productivity of my veggies this year. It has also kept most of the moths off the plants, so now, there are relatively few bug holes in any of my greenery.
The tomatoes were kept under the plastic. On those rare nights when we dipped into the freeze zone for a couple hours, I threw old bed sheets over the hoops, then covered with the plastic. Leaves touching plastic in a freeze tend to get burned, so the sheets went on first. Of course, our freezes usually last only a couple hours in the late night/early morning, then back to relative temps. If there were sustained freezes (1-4 days in a row), my strategy was the sheets, plastic, and add either a couple strings of old-fashioned Christmas lights (the ones that throw off heat), or a small space heater underneath the hoop. You could also fill gallon milk jugs with hot water and set them under the hoop, but for longer dips, the space heater would be my protection of choice. It would throw off enough heat underneath and the plastic would contain it. Also, most small heaters today have an automatic shut-off if it's tipped over, so I'm not worried about a fire or anything. And, it's just through the night most times.
If you don't wanna go the electric heat route, Dave's suggestion of the bucket covering is pretty good, too. I'd create the pvc hoop, and cover each plant with a bucket, then throw the bed sheets and the plastic sheeting over the hole bucket patch UNDER THE HOOP. Then, I'd cover the entire hoop with bed sheets and more plastic sheeting. It'd be a double layer of protection under the hoop. I don't have hay in my garden.
Hope this helps!
The
portable mini-greenhouse over the trays is 18" tall. The larger hoops are in the background beyond...
Cabbages, beets, spinach, mustard greens. No bug holes in the greenery, which I attribute to keeping the bed covered during the winter when the moths were trying to light on the leaves to lay eggs. They just bounced on the plastic and flew off elsewheres. Also, I learned to turn my yard lights off at night so the moths were not attracted to my yard. They visited the neighbor's, LOL!
Cauliflower and broccoli bed. Again, notice the greenery. Though the hoops stayed covered during the winter months, the ends were vented to allow for airflow, and the covers were raised to take advantage of occasional rainstorms.
