Gallon milk jugs for cheap early start

[OkieDan]

I plant tomatoes 2 weeks before the average last frost date, and take it off one week after. I cut the bottom out of one gallon milk jugs, and weave a bamboo skewer down each side to hold it down. The top can be opened for watering.
I also cut 4 inch ringed plastic drain pipe 5 rings long and place it into the soil around the tomato. The black piece of pipe works wonders. I have even placed it around slow growing plants and see them start growing. I think it is the warmth it transmits to the soil that works the magic.
The thin ribbed plastic drainage pipe is cheap, less than a dollar a foot, and easily cut. See your Lowes type store outdoors department for the pipe, about $6 for a ten foot piece. You won't believe it until you try it.