Chuck, here's what I'd suggest -- pick up a bale or two of some wheat straw mulch to (gently) 'encapsulate' the plants like Gimme suggested. Should take you an hour or less to perform this task for 32 plants. Then use the buckets on top. It will really make all the difference. I've had a situation before where some plants were just covered, and others were covered after being gently surrounded w/straw mulch. Guess which ones did much, much better? The insulative properties of straw are just excellent.
Good luck getting through next weekend.
Edited to provide additional detail -- the night I was referring to got down to 22F according to my max/min thermometer.
|