WESLACO – As temperature continues to drop, people are starting to bundle up even more to keep warm during the cold front. But it is important to know plants can also be affected by the weather.

As the wind chill hits the Rio Grande Valley, plant growers may need to be cautious with their plants. The temperature is expected to hit below the freezing threshold and plants could end up dying.

One Valley business owner said they’ve already started to take extra precautions.

“We try to be prepared for everything,” Roland Medina, the manager of Live Oak Nursery, said.

Medina said he wasn’t expecting temperatures to get this low.

“It’s a little bit cooler than last, it’s not the temperatures during this time of course. We’re in the Valley it’s very, very rare when the temperatures are like that,” he said.

Medina said last year their winter wasn’t this strong. He mentioned the freezing temperatures could start to get dangerous for plants if the temperatures stay low.

“When its gets to 32 below, that’s freezing temperature. So that would be, if you’re watching the weather, that’d be that’s when it’s freezing, that’s when your plants are in danger,” he said.

Medina said people should bring their potted plants inside to keep warm.

“For some plants that can’t come inside, you might just use some cloth as a wrap. Nothing plastic, more of a burlap sack or anything that’s light cloth type,” he said.

Medina said people should never use plastic because it doesn’t allow enough warmth in and it suffocates the plants.

“You can go to your local hardware (store), buy a little bit of foam and wrap it around the trunk of the tree and that would be good,” he noted.

Medina said if the temperatures continue to stay low, it could cause a lasting effect.

“It’s like Mother Nature. It may survive it, may not and if you’re having to recover, hopefully it does, but if it does die then we have to replace the plants,” he said.

Medina emphasized again that it’s important to cover the plants during the cold weather. “We just want to be protective,” he said.