Local farmers and plant nursery workers in Southwest Miami-Dade are rushing to protect their plants from the cold spreading across South Florida. At Galloway Nursery in Southwest Miami-Dade, workers shared their plans to cover their plants from the cold. “So a lot of plants that we sell here are tropical, they need warm weather, so we’re trying to cover them with tarps, and putting anything that’s in a hanging basket on the floor, to make sure it doesn’t get wind whipped.” said Javier Alemdo. The nursery isn’t just protecting its plants, but pets as well. “I’m just worried about the health of the animals on the nursery, and the tropical pets themselves. We kind of depend on selling these tropical plants to make a living.” said Alemdo. “Also for the animals, the cats and the parrots and all that. The parrots we actually put in the orchid room to protect them from the cold.” If plants are in your home, nurseries said to do the same thing, to bring them inside and cover them with tarps or sheets. Experts said that outdoor plants will also need more water. “This is the most giving and forgiving tree you’ll ever have,” said Julian Lara, from Lara Farms Nursery. The nursery is known for its rare fruits, and preparation is underway to protect their plants from the cold. “We have to put a plastic roof on here just to give it added protection because they’re so cold sensitive,” said Lara. The nursery has a special irrigation system to keep their plants alive. “Maybe 75-76 degree weather, that really helps a lot. Point is, let it saturate the earth, let it saturate the soil,” he said. In an interview with 7News, David Torbert, the owner of Torbert Farms as well as the Five Brothers Packing Plant, shared how the cold has impacted his farm. “The past few days, we’ve spent a lot of time watering, trying to seal the ground up, holding in the heat from the past few days, it also helps to hydrate the plant and get them ready to go through this cold weather, we also applied some fertilizer to help give them the strength they need to endure what they’re going through,” he said. Conditions in the fields were near freezing across multiple farms. “We farm all across the county, so there are certain areas in the county that are warmer or colder than others, it’s hard to tell that when the wind blows consistently like it has, tonight there’s going to be less wind, so there’s less chances for cold pockets to develop, and that’s where you’ll see more temperature fluctuation.” said Tolbert. The storm has been a major economic impact for his farm as well as many farms across the state, according to Torbert. “Yeah, I mean, we have millions of dollars in the ground right now, so we’re definitely gonna be watching this closely as well as many other farms, not only down here in Homestead, but across the southern half of the state.” he said. At the farm in Homestead, crews worked to keep snap beans, okra, yellow squash and sweet corn strong as the freezing temperatures posed a major risk. “If it maintains 32 degrees or below for more than a couple of hours, the plants will actually freeze.” said Torbert. The freeze would impact the food supply across the United States. “In the United States, a lot of your winter time vegetables are grown in this area, so if we were to lose everything, you’d be depending on Mexico and other countries to feed us,” said Torbert. The key takeaways from experts would be to take plants inside and to cover them from the cold. ...read more read less