Extend Your Harvest Season: Protect Your Mirliton Vine on Frost Nights.
The old tradition of cutting back your mirliton vine in November was based on old weather patterns. The weather is changing, and we need to change with it. Intensive summer rains, fall heatwaves, and droughts have delayed flowering and fruiting. As soon as the vines start to fruit, a frost comes along and wipes out the vine. You don’t have to let that happen. With a little preparation, you can beat the frost and harvest fruit all the way through December.
In horticulture, this is known as extending the season, which involves using techniques to prolong the growing season beyond its natural limits. In 2024, several people used tenting and heating methods that allowed vines to produce fruit all the way through December.
All that it takes to protect your vine from an early frost is to temporarily tent your vine with a FEMA tarp, clear plastic sheet, or row covers. Secure the bottom of the cover with weights to trap the ground heat and prevent the cover from blowing off. That will trap enough ground heat to prevent most frost damage.
If you use a tarp, you will need to take it down the next day when the temperature warms up–the vine needs sunlight. Clear plastic is much better because you can leave it up for a day or two, but loosen the bottom to maintain airflow and keep the vine from overheating. Keep the ground below the vine clear of debris and moist so the soil can absorb daytime heat and radiate it into the tent at night.
This tenting technique requires extra effort—watching the weather forecast and putting up and taking down the cover—but it will extend the harvest season by several weeks.
We can get a damaging frost anytime the temperature is forecast to fall below 42°. So use that as a sign to cover the vine.
Tarps, clear plastic, and row covers will trap enough ground heat to protect a vine from frost at temperatures in the low 30s. Make sure you seal the bottom with bricks to keep the wind out and the heat in.
The primary tool you will need to extend the growing season is the tarp, plastic cover, or row covers. But here are two other tools that are optional but useful:
Portable Heater (optional) or heat lamp
Remote thermometer (optional)
Deb Sepulveda’s tented vine
Nancy Wolfe’s camping tent enclosure.
Paige Dyer’s 6-mil plastic tent.
Lee Segrura’s tented vine with pipe frame.
Melissa Minevielle’s tented vine with heater.
Walter Livaudais’s tarp frost cover.
John Dauzat’s Tent of pipe frame. He encloses the entire vine and heats it.
Michelle Impastato Glore’s row cover enclosure at night.