6 Best Row Cover Fabric For Frost Protection Old Farmers Swear By
Extend your growing season and protect crops from frost. Discover the 6 best row cover fabrics, time-tested and recommended by experienced farmers.
There’s a specific kind of dread that sets in when you see the first frost warning of the season on the weather report. You’ve spent months tending your tomatoes, peppers, and beans, and one cold night can wipe it all out. This is where a good row cover becomes the most valuable tool in your shed, acting as a shield between your hard work and the killing cold. Choosing the right one isn’t about finding a single magic blanket; it’s about understanding the different tools available for different jobs.
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Understanding Row Cover Weights and Materials
The first thing to know is that not all white garden fabric is the same. The most critical factor is weight, usually measured in ounces per square yard. This number tells you everything about its primary function.
A lightweight cover, around 0.5 oz, is mostly for insect protection and might give you a mere 2-4°F of frost protection. A mid-weight, around 1.0-1.25 oz, is a good all-around choice for light frosts, offering 4-6°F of protection while still letting in plenty of sunlight. For serious cold, you need a heavyweight fabric, typically 1.5 oz or more, which can provide 6-8°F of protection or even more.
These fabrics are almost always made of spun-bonded polypropylene, a material that allows air and water to pass through but traps heat radiating from the soil at night. The tradeoff is simple and absolute: the heavier the fabric, the better the frost protection, but the less light gets through to your plants. A heavy frost blanket is a lifesaver for a single cold night, but leaving it on for a week can starve a sun-loving plant.
Agribon AG-70: The Heavyweight Frost Blanket
When you see a forecast calling for a hard freeze, Agribon is the name that comes to mind. Their AG-70 is a true heavyweight, clocking in at 2.0 oz/sq yd. This isn’t your everyday row cover; this is a serious frost blanket designed for the coldest nights.
The AG-70 can provide a remarkable 8°F+ of protection, making it the go-to for overwintering hardy crops like kale, carrots, and spinach in many climates. It’s also the perfect emergency blanket to throw over tender perennials or late-season tomatoes when an unexpected arctic blast rolls in. Think of it as winter insurance.
The significant downside is its poor light transmission, which is only around 30%. You would never leave this on your plants for an extended period during active growth. It’s for short-term, extreme protection or for dormant winter crops that aren’t doing much growing anyway.
DeWitt N-Sulate: The Farmer’s Reusable Choice
If you’re looking for a workhorse frost protector you can use season after season, DeWitt’s N-Sulate is a fantastic investment. At 1.5 oz/sq yd, it sits squarely in the heavyweight category, offering a solid 6-8°F of frost protection. It’s the perfect balance for extending the season in both spring and fall.
What sets N-Sulate apart is its durability. It’s UV-treated and has a reputation for holding up to repeated use, folding, and storage without easily tearing or degrading. While it might cost a bit more upfront than a generic brand, you’ll get several years of reliable use out of it, which saves money and hassle in the long run.
This is the fabric you put over your fall broccoli and lettuce beds in October and leave on for weeks at a time. It allows about 50% light transmission, which is enough for cool-weather crops to continue growing slowly. It’s the most versatile option for anyone serious about pushing the boundaries of their growing season.
Dalen’s Garden-Quilt for Early Season Starts
Protecting newly planted seedlings is a special kind of challenge. They are at their most vulnerable, and a late spring frost can be devastating. Dalen’s Garden-Quilt is specifically designed for this high-stakes scenario.
This fabric is often thicker and has a "quilted" texture that provides excellent insulation, comparable to a 1.5 oz fabric. It’s ideal for draping over tender transplants like tomatoes, peppers, and squash for a few nights to help them weather a cold snap. It traps heat effectively without crushing the delicate plants.
Because it’s sold in smaller, more manageable packages, it’s perfect for the hobbyist who doesn’t need a 250-foot roll. You wouldn’t use this to cover a whole field, but for protecting a few dozen precious seedlings you’ve spent weeks nurturing indoors, it’s an invaluable tool.
Agfabric Plant Covers for Versatile Protection
Sometimes, your protection needs are more specific than a long row. You might need to cover a single blueberry bush, a potted fig tree, or a few tomato plants in cages. This is where Agfabric shines, offering an incredible variety of pre-made covers and bags.
Agfabric offers their material in all the standard weights, from lightweight insect barriers to heavy 1.5 oz frost blankets. Their key advantage is the range of products, especially their plant cover bags. These come with a drawstring at the bottom, making it incredibly easy to slip one over a plant and cinch it tight in just a few seconds.
For a hobby farmer with a diverse garden, having a few of these bags on hand is a game-changer. It saves you the time and frustration of trying to wrap a large sheet of fabric around an awkwardly shaped plant. It’s the peak of convenience for targeted frost protection.
Grower’s Solution Covers for Custom Bed Sizes
If you’ve standardized your garden beds or have long, unique rows, buying pre-cut sheets of row cover can be wasteful and inefficient. This is where buying in bulk from a supplier like Grower’s Solution makes perfect sense. They offer large, wide rolls of fabric that you can cut to your exact needs.
The primary benefit is cost-effectiveness. Buying a 300-foot roll of 1.5 oz fabric is significantly cheaper per square foot than buying smaller packages. This is the right move when you know you’ll be covering multiple beds year after year and have the space to store the roll.
This approach also gives you maximum flexibility. You can cut a piece that perfectly fits your 4×12 foot raised bed or a 50-foot row of fall carrots without seams or overlap. It’s the most practical option for a dedicated gardener who has moved beyond protecting just a few plants and is managing a whole garden system.
The Planket: Easy Draping for Shrubs & Trees
Row covers are designed for, well, rows. They can be clumsy and difficult to secure over upright, individual plants like shrubs, small trees, or large rosemary bushes. The Planket is a product designed to solve this exact problem.
Typically sold in square or circular shapes, The Planket often includes built-in grommets along the edges. This simple feature makes it incredibly easy to drape over a plant and secure it to the ground with stakes or tie it around the base. No more fumbling with rocks or bricks on a windy night.
While you could certainly use a regular piece of heavyweight fabric, the purpose-built design of The Planket saves time and ensures a more secure fit. For protecting valuable landscape plants or young fruit trees from a sudden freeze, it’s a specialized tool that is well worth the investment.
Securing Your Row Covers for Maximum Protection
The best frost fabric in the world is useless if the wind gets under it. A properly secured row cover traps the earth’s radiant heat, creating a microclimate. A loose one just flaps in the breeze.
Your method for securing the edges is critical. Burying the edges with soil is effective and cheap, but it’s messy and can lead to tears when you pull it up. Using rocks or bricks is a common method, but they can create gaps and chafe the fabric over time.
For a truly secure setup, nothing beats sandbags. They are heavy, flexible, and contour to the ground, creating a perfect seal without damaging the fabric. You can buy them or make your own with pea gravel and heavy-duty plastic bags. For holding the fabric down across the middle of a wide bed, especially in windy locations, landscape fabric staples are essential. A taut, sealed cover is the only cover that will truly protect your plants.
Ultimately, the best row cover is the one that fits your specific garden, climate, and goals. There’s no single answer, but a combination of a durable, mid-to-heavyweight fabric for your beds and a few specialty covers for individual plants will prepare you for almost anything nature throws your way. Investing in the right protection means fewer losses, a longer harvest, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’ve done everything you can to safeguard your garden.
