How to Keep Vegetable Plants From Dying in Cold Weather

Frost is the enemy of warm-season vegetables.

Frost is the enemy of warm-season vegetables.

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Even climates with mild winters, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 and above, experience frost and freezing weather sometimes. It's a shame to let all your hard work at growing vegetables go to waste because of a cold snap. Hardy and semi-hardy vegetables in the cabbage family or cruciferous vegetables will get through a light frost, or mild freeze, without any protection from you. Seedlings and warm-season vegetables need more protection the further the temperatures drop.


Cover seedlings with a glass jar pressed firmly into the soil. Use large plastic soda bottles with the bottoms cut out for larger plants and 1-gallon plastic milk or water containers for larger plants.This traps warmer air close to the plant and works as long as the temperatures don't get too much below freezing.


Tape newspaper sheets together to form a covering several layers thick and large enough to completely enclose the plant. You can also use bed sheets or plastic sheets. Place the newspapers on top of the plant and drape them down the sides, to the ground. Secure the sheets with rocks so they don't blow off. If you have time, push stakes into the ground to keep the sheets off the plants themselves to prevent branch and stem breakage.


Fill 1-gallon containers with hot water. Place them equidistant around larger vegetable plants as close as possible to the outer edge of the plant. If you place the containers right next to the main stem, the outer leaves may get frost-bitten. Three containers work for a medium-sized pepper plant, while you might need five containers for a full-grown tomato plant. If frost is predicted for several nights but the days are sunny, fill the containers with water and wrap them in black garbage bags. The black absorbs heat from the sun and warms up the water. If temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing, throw a sheet over the plant and containers.


Drape holiday lights around the outside branches of the plant, toward the bottom and middle of the plant. Place a few lights over the top of tall plants as well for particularly cold weather. A string of 100 mini lights will cover two full-sized tomato plants. The holiday lights may generate enough heat by themselves to prevent the plants from dying. If you don't think it will be enough, cover the plants with sheets and also use lights. Secure the sheets with rocks so they don't blow off. Do not use LED lights because they don't generate heat.

Things You Will Need

  • Glass jars
  • Soda bottles
  • 1-gallon milk or water containers
  • Newspapers
  • Tape
  • Sheets
  • Plastic coverings
  • Rocks
  • Stakes
  • Black garbage bags
  • Holiday lights


  • Estimate how low the temperature is forecast for your area. If you normally experience lower temperatures because you're at the bottom of a hill, for example, you may need to step up the cold protection. Cold air sinks, while warm air rises. The lower the temperature, and the more frost-tender the vegetables, the more you'll have to protect the plants.
  • Only protect frost-tender plants. Most warm-season vegetables are tender. Root vegetables and lettuce can withstand a light frost.
  • Harvest any vegetables if you think you can't save the plants. For example, green tomatoes will ripen inside.


  • Do not cut off any damaged leaves from surviving plants. The dead leaves provide some insulation from the cold.

About the Author

Katie Jensen


Photo Credits

  • Jupiterimages/ Images
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