I actually ended up using a bale of hay my wife had been using for fall decoration. I spread it over the whole bed at least 6 inches deep, so even though they won't get much sun, it's only for 4-5 days and they should get some insulation from the freezing temps without getting baked during the day. I'll post about how they end up doing once we get back.

Agreed. Tomato plants are very fragile and even if you manage to "heal them up" the stress has caused serious development problems which probably will lead to stunted growth, low flowering and few fruits. If I were you I'd re-germinate now and keep them in your house until you can properly harden them off. If you can't keep your ambient temperatures within your hoop house at least 40F, I wouldn't bother trying to grow tomatoes with them. smithmal

I've have had good luck with lots of varieties from early girls and 4th of July, to big beef, brandywine, super steak. This year I'm also trying Belgium giant, Cherokee purple, black krim, bloody butcher, early pick, Indigo rose, and a couple of others. To get the large varieties to produce well, I've been starting them 7 or 8 weeks prior to planting in the ground. Many go in the ground from 1 gallon pots. The planting area is covered with black plastic 2 weeks ahead of planting to help with heating the soil. Holes are cut in the plastic for the tomatoes. The black plastic stays on all summer. I have had pretty good luck with getting large plants, lots of tomatoes, and some really big tomatoes. The tomatoes in this picture are in 5ft high cages. I'm 5'11".

@sam_md, I guess we agree to disagree. 4 of 5 of the MP trees planted at Polly Hill have been there since 1968, nearly 50 years. Surly, if there was an issue with root rot or heat, the trees would long be gone, but they are not. http://www.pollyhillarboretum.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2016-Living-Collections-Inventory-for-web.pdf I have read many articles and journal entries by Polly Hill. She described how the trees would grow fantastically for many years, then a bad winter would kill them back significantly. However, her surprise was at how well the trees would recover from the damage and start growing as usual again, until the next freak winter. This is why those trees look odd, and do not appear to be 50 years old. However, Polly hill has some of the most meticulous records around, and the history of each tree can be observed. While it is true that the MP can tolerate extreme cold for short periods of time. I have found that many of these locations only experience short bursts of cold, while the rest of their winters are fairly mild compared to MA. Take Kennewick or Carson, WA for example. Facebook users have reported that the MP trees there survived -15f. But do a side by side comparison of those locations to anywhere in 6b/7a MA and you will find our winters are much colder overall. So the trees must be able to survive prolonged periods of cold, which seems to be the problem. Look at this comparison of WA vs. MA... I see 1 major difference, Avg. LOW