Not a clue what you mean!!! What are cloches?
NT

Mason Jars make neat bird feeders for small birds. Undo a metal clothes hanger, wrap the end opposite the hook around the lip of the jar, fill with bird seed and hang from a tree branch by the hook.

I would not use them for cloches but old glass shades from ceiling fan lights work great. The small hole in the top makes a good vent.

I would not use Mason jars as cloches. As a previous poster hinted, cloches need a vent. Most commercially available plastic ones have a vent. I have used large plastic containers (like 2.5 gallon water jugs) successfully. Cut out the bottom into flaps that you can weigh down with a brick, poke a hole or two in the top, and you have a cloche. I used to have a little gadget that let me cut the bottoms out of 1 gallon glass jugs, and these made great cloches.

Thanks!

Yes you can use them. Smith and Hawken sells Cloches and they are just bell jars with no venting. If you just turn the mason jar or vase over on an uneven surface like gravel, moss or stones, there will be gaps to let in air.

See your local burger joint and ask them to save the plastic jugs the french fry oil comes in. Most are square, about 16-18 inches tall and have a large screw on top. Cut out the bottom and push the sides down into the soil. You can screw off the top every morning, drop it beside the jug and screw it back on every evening to hold the heat.

I used a couple of plastic water jugs that I found on the side of the road as cloches to grow spinach all winter. The bottom is cut off (and that is used as a tray under a pot)and the jug pushed into the soil. I pushed the metal rod down the center because I get alot of wind - but you may not need that. Spinach sure was yummy in the middle of the winter!
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Lynn

Although I never tried this, my Godmother ( A Master Gardener) stuck rose cuttings in moist ground, covered them with upside down mason jars, and left them alone for months. With luck they rooted and she had more roses.

KIM

I've used mason jars to root roses (outside) and bald cypress. In the shade of course. Glad your post reminded me, so I'll do it again. I also have an old fish tank with a small piece of glass broken out I'll try.

When cleaning out our cellar, my dh found a lot of glass gallon jugs. I was thinking of cutting off the bottoms and using them as cloches (they have a small hole at the top of course.) Should I do it, or is it a waste of now rare glass gallon jugs?

It would be a waste, there are plenty of plastic containers to be had and you couuld sell the glass jugs in your next yard sale.

SAVE those glass gallon jugs. I'd buy them from you myself if TX wasn't so far from NH. Someone will want them, that's certain.

My grandmother used mason jars to root cuttings back in OK years ago. Stick the cutting in the soil in a shady spot and put the jar over it. Check it periodically to make sure the cutting is still alive, and you should see new growth in about 8-10 weeks.

I like that idea with the 5-gal water jugs that windsurfgirl used to grow spinach during the winter. What a great idea. Cheryl

Here's a link that has started selling pretty affordable garden cloches.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Garden Cloche Store at TheGardenCloche.com

As a canner and dairy goat owner, I would say that cutting up Mason jars and gallon jugs would be a huge waste of a resource. Try gallon milk and juice jugs and other large containers others have mentioned.

Two liter soda bottle work well also. I screw on the cap, and cut off the bottom (which can work as a saucer for small seedling pot). I tend to use them when I am trying to root shrub cuttings or roses.

You can vent as needed by loosening or even removing the cap.

I live in the DEEP south and my mother used to use mason jars as a cloche for her rose cuttings. She would cover her cuttings and put them under the edge of the house in the shade. (Our house was elevated, of course) and she had the most beautiful plants we ever had.