If you have already planted you warmth loving plants, there are a few things you can do to try and save them from the cold temperatures that are coming tonight and early next week.
If you only have a few plants in the ground – I would suggest digging them up and bring them into a warmer spot at night for the next week. That is the best way to protect them from the extreme cold that’s coming tonight. The disturbance of moving them will be far less damaging than the cold temperature. It will be very difficult to protect some plants from 28 degrees. The vegetable plants that are in the most danger are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil.
If you want to try to cover them, here are a few suggestions:
If the plants are small, you can put a plastic milk carton over each plant. This will work best with small plants because any part of the plant that touches the cold plastic will be killed.
If the plants are larger and have a cage around them, you can wrap the cage with shrink wrap or plastic wrap. Start at the ground level and end a couple of inches above the plant. You will also need to protect the plant from the top with cardboard or heavy fabric. And, for tonight, I would also wrap the plastic covered part of the cage with some type of heave fabric – folded up sheet, bath towel, ect…
If you have plants without cages, you can cover the bed with a folded sheet or a comforter.
AND – Don’t forget to remove the covers AFTER the temperatures have warmed up the following morning.