Good to hear about the floating row covers. I didn't have any annuals planted yet so didn't think to cover anything. Some of the perennials look damaged though. The heucheras had flower stalks, and they are limp today. We didn't get the forecasted snow; it may have been better if we had. It might have protected the plants from the wind chill.

But back to the floating row covers. I imagine they will be very useful to protect plants in the fall also. Is it expensive?

Glad to hear it worked Pudge. Brrr, -5! I guess the row cover would also be good to have for those freak June & July frosts that sometimes happen. >:0( Stupid freak frosts.

Pudge, That's good to know it worked well. I got some from Lee Valley this spring and am planning on using them to keep some bugs out as well as for f****s. Sorry to hear you're getting those :^( We had s*** yesterday and today, but I don't think it went much lower than -1C and we needed the moisture.

Marie, I paid $19.50 for a 7' x50' roll. I bet it would be cheaper in town, but I didn't want to chance not having it on hand and I was putting in an order with Lee Valley anyway. They called it a "spun-bonded" material.

Here's what Vesey's sells.

Here is a link that might be useful: floating row covers at Vesey's

I've been using the floating row covers for years - I always call them my garden blankets. I use them mostly on tomatoes, peppers, and cukes. They go on when I put out the plants, and seed the cukes, and don't come off until about July 7th to 10th. I've lost too many crops to early July frosts on top of this hill. The extra warmth seems to speed maturity by 1-2 weeks - but don't forget to weed, they do very well, too. I've also used them to keep bugs off cabbage and broccoli, and they work well for that too. The only problem I've had with them is when the wind gets really bad, and they flap around and damage the tomatoes.
Connie

Something I'm going to be looking at purchasing next next year.

I'm definately getting more row covers! What a surprise when I pulled them off to weed underneath. I had it covering a row of spinich and radishes to keep the bugs (fleebeetles) at bay and it definately helped, but they were also waaaay ahead of the rows I hadn't covered. The uncovered rows still haven't put out their second leaves yet, but the covered radishes had leaves 6-7" long and the spinich was so healthy looking. Of course, like Connie said earlier, the weeds were also taller. Seems like an easy way to give veggies that extra boost. Or even direct seeded flowers. And unlike plastic covers, you don't have to lift these to water under them because the rain gets through.

I would have posted some pics but its raining today. Which is good, we need it. :)

Any new words of advice/wisdom in regards to the row covers? Have you been using it every year since this post? How has it stood up to the years? Still good? or have you had to replace it? I'm looking into buying something this year. Thanks.

We had 25 -27 degrees yesterday and under the row cover (AG-30) was 30 - 31, everything was fine (broccoli, onion, greens, lettuces). Now I am wanting to set it over some new seeding of carrots and lettuces and just leave it for a few weeks. People tell me that water goes through, but I am hoping to be able to bury some soaker hose between the rows without messing up the seeds too much. Any ideas on new seedings and row cover ?

Earlier this season I put some brassicas out with 2 layers of AG-30 over it and they grew happliy, at least 10 degrees warmer than outside. Wind goes through and cools things down a bit though. On cold, windy days I put plastic over as well and the plants didn't even know winter was visiting again.

I do have troubles with our cats though. They enjoy climbing on the row cover, playing tag in it and such. The rowcover rips if under any tension in a certain place so one needs care in handling.

Glad for the conversation here !!

I've used mine every year since buying it and it has held up really well. I bought more but am still using the original stuff as well.

It will rip if not careful - even tension is best. I use bricks to weigh it down, but have also discovered that long lengths of rebar work really good, too. It's good not to let it flap around in wind that could create a hole and that's where a rip could start.

Make sure it's dry before folding up and putting away - I had some mould grow on a few pieces that I put away damp.

This year I planted an early crop of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbages, and another bed of lettuce and put them under row cover. I took the row cover off on the weekend and within a day the flea beetles were after the cabbage. Grrrr. I took the row cover off the snow peas and within a day or two the birds were eating that. Grrr. A much better situation would be if the birds ate the stupid flea beetles.

I now have low hoops and row cover over a newly transplanted bed of corn that I started in the greenhouse. I will also use it when I direct seed the rest of the corn. I used the row cover last year over the corn seeds and got 100% germination in some not so nice temperatures. I'm also planning to use it this year for squash, melon, cucumber, and tomato transplants.

I've gotten almost no cukes for the last 2 years due to the cucumber wilt virus. I'm in a community garden which I believe is a more aggressive environment for disease. I'm trying row cover for the first time this year. The row cover is over 4 foot tall hoops made of plastic tubing. I started with Agribon 15 because I didn't want heat buildup but in the stormy early summer Ohio weather it seemed to tear too easily. I switched over to Agribon 19 several weeks ago and it's great. It hasn't torn yet. I'm just burying the edges under dirt in a shallow trench. There is probably some heat build-up but the cukes are happy so far since they love heat and a little shade. They also look much healthier that my neigbor's cukes and we've harvested earlier (probably by 2-3weeks) as well. We're harvesting sacks of cucumbers every 3-4 days. We were going to give up on cucumbers if this didn't work; we like to use organic methods and nothing seems to stop the beetles and the wilt. This has been a rewarding trial for us. P.S. used parthenocarpic cuke varities so we didn't have to worry about a pollinator for the cukes.