Bubble wrap just wont do. It might help, but not like water will. Water has a very high Specific heat -- the amount of energy it takes to warm 1 g of water 1 degree(if I recall correctly). So, conversely that energy is held more efficiently when temps lower.

It's much like your Pacific Ocean. That ocean holds the water's energy very efficiently. That is why the closer you live towards the coast, the less fluctuation there will be in temperature swings between night and day. Or, for that matter, from day to day and throughout the year.

Much like WOW, by the time the WOW starts cooling down from the heat up from the day before, it's already day again and ready for another warm up.

Kevin

Kevin, .. No doubts that water has much much higher specific heat than air. But in the absence of any laboratory testing, one cannot argue for or against it.

My takes on the whole concept are:

1-- Insulation: Plants loose heat at cold nights by convection cooling, ie. air movement (winds) around them. So, any wrap around the plant can minimize that heat loss. Plus, BUBBLE WRAP has insulating quality (air bubbles)

2-- Greenhouse Effect: To me this is the most important factor. Why don't we build our greenhouse walls, with something filled with water? One quick answer is that IT IS NOT NECESSARY. We want to heat/warm up the inside(air and the objects) , not the walls. By greenhouse effect the solar energy is trapped inside.

With the Bubble Wrap it is similar(not though quite the same). The trapped solar energy heats both the plant and the soil. MORE SOIL than the plant. So when the sun goes down, the soil radiates heat (Upward around the plant. In the absence of any wind, the plant won't cool off fast.

Seyson i meant to dig up this link the other day. Bubble wrap can be used by some gardeners, but in a different way. It can give a greenhouse and coldframe some insulation value while still allowing some light to penetrate. As the weather warms, you can remove the bubble wrap panels so the greenhouse doesn't overheat too fast (store it, and re-use it in the fall).

The fellow in the link below uses it to insulate the window panels in his home.

Also, i am told that the bubble wrap with smaller cells is a slightly better insulator than the one with large cells. Though I don't know if the smaller cells allow for better light penetration.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble Wrap Window Insulation

This post was edited by sjetski on Tue, Feb 25, 14 at 22:26

Thanks Steve

Bubble wraps works similar to double/triple glass. It is the air trapped that make it a good insulation while transmitting most of the light(Solar energy). If I wanted to make a small hoop/greenhouse I would rather use bubble wrap than clear plastic.

So my point is that wrapping a cage with bubble wrap should be nearly as effective as WOW. You heat the soil and air around the plant DIRECTLY instead of water, as MIDDLE MAN.

Well, what ive found is the ground holds the heat.
that is, if it warms during the day, or you have a cold snap, and it warms a couple of days later.

In that case, bubble wrap sounds like a good idea.
and you could add black plastic on the ground to catch daytime sun/heat...
If it actually is insulated well, you could think of putting a gallon jug , heated in the microwave next to the plant, then insulate best as possible

I wish i would have done this with my papaya trees a few weeks ago, they might still be alive

Exactly right Josh. I think it is better to heat the soil than the water. Most of the heat absorbed by the WOW is dissipated from outside (it has bigger exposed surface to outside than inside). And when it is cool and slightly windy, it cannot get very warm either , because it will loose heat almost as fast as it gains. So I think WOW is basically a "WALL".