Though they tend to be called row covers, you certainly don’t have to be growing your plants in rows for you to use them. It’s a very light fabric cover you put over your plants, and they can be pretty helpful in certain circumstances. Check out the garden store, it’s not hard to find.
There are a few different reasons why you might want to cover up your plants. You can use them to protect from frost, to add a little shade during really hot weather or to block any really problematic flying insect pests.
For Frost: In these cases, the actual fabric you use isn’t too important. The idea is to cover your plants up at night to keep that killing frost from settling in. You can even use a light bedsheet if you have to. Just gently cover everything at night, and hope things warm up in the morning.
For Shade: A shade cover can help you keep your plants out of the sun for a few weeks so you can get your spring harvest in. You probably won’t want to try and use this technique to grow shade-plants all summer long though. A row cover will also hold in the heat and your plants won’t do too well over the entire season.
For Protection: This can be the trickiest idea because you usually leave the covers on for many weeks, and you have to keep your plants growing under there in the meantime. Because these covers may stay for most of the growing season, they need to be done right (no hastily tossed bedsheets, please). Proper row cover material will keep out the bugs but let in nearly all of the sunshine, as well as the rain. The material will also need to be held up with stakes or wire hoops so that it doesn’t directly weigh down your growing plants. You’ll have to make a point of lifting the ends up periodically to take a look at your plants, to check on their health.
For Heat: In this case, you’ll want to use something like light plastic rather than the usual mesh fabric. Heat-loving plants like some peppers can benefit from some added warmth, just make sure they don’t bake.