How to Make Garden Hot Caps from Used Milk Jugs

Cut the bottoms off the jugs. Leave tabs on each of the sides. It will look like this:Make Garden Hot Caps from Used Milk Jugs Step 1Bullet1.jpg

Bend the tabs out.

Use a paper punch to punch two holes in each tab. Make the holes be about 1 inch (2.5cm) apart in the center of the tab in this manner:

You can push loop stakes in the holes to hold the milk jug hot caps down over plants. Each milk jug hot cap will have 4 loop stakes, one for each tab. You can buy several packages of loop stakes at a hardware store like Lowe's or a garden store for a package of 10. You can also make your own loop stakes from used hanger wire. You will need a lot of hangers; ask your local charity store or dry cleaner for spares.

When you transplant the plants to the garden you can now cover each small plant with one milk jug hot cap secured by 4 loop stakes. Put a little dirt over each tab to help hold them in place. Save the lids to the milk jugs and put them on the "hot caps" at night if it is going to be especially cold, but always take them off in the day so that air movement will help prevent sunburn as well as mold growth.

When the weather begins to get warm and danger of hard frost is past, remove the jugs. You can clean them and store them away for next year or make new ones as needed.