hi shirley...next year, I'm not going to use plastic. small areas of it seem to be fine, but large areas of plastic create too much heat below. my tomatoes did okay but my peppers (168 plants) were cooked. a smaller area of plastic with peppers (18 plants) that I planted, are loaded with fruit. also, I was plagued with a cutworm or cutworms in my tomatoes. I lost around eight plants to this pest. they get into the plant at the base and eat away, killing the plant and then they move on to another. the plastic cover may be enabling this pest to easily range about. I plucked around eight bac worms (bacworms,tobacco worms,tomato worms, they have many names) from my tomatoes this year. they are the bright green caterpillar worms that climb to the top of the plant to gorge themselves on the most tender areas and then move on to the next. it's amazing how much they can eat and how quickly. usually I only come across one or two each season. they aggrivated me so much this year that I subjected the ones that I found to trial by highway. I placed them on the center line of the two lane highway by my home, then wished them good luck. one managed to cheat death. also, unfenced areas of tomatoes (33 plants) were routinely munched on by deer. I won't do that next year. seems only squash is immune to the tastebuds of these creatures. plus, it seems that deer don't like the irritation of the squash leaves against their bodies.