ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As hundreds of children and parents are preparing for Halloween night and trick or treating, some parents are now having to balance costumes and keeping children warm. 

One parent has great advice on how to get your children to agree to bundling up.

“We’ll definitely have some jackets on hand. My little guy is going to be Super Mario, and he had a little sister who’s going to be a bat. So hopefully their costumes will keep them warm, but if not we’ll have some jackets and gloves and all that good stuff,” a mother told KOB 4. “Maybe take them a little earlier when it’s not too cold yet, that way they can enjoy it without the jacket and say ‘Hey, if you put the jacket on you’ll get more candy,’ or something like that.”

She says that’s a trick she’ll probably be using Halloween night. 

Another big thing she mentioned is layering. So making sure you have a good base and then having extras on hand if things get colder. That way your child can still show off their costume but stay warm. 

We also spoke to one mother about dressing her child when they’re still too young to tell you if they’re hot or cold. 

“It’s a little confusing because she’s my first, and so I can’t tell if she’s hot or cold. But I kind of layer her so she’s got a long sleeve and then a zip up, and it’s a little tricky,” said Jeungli Ching, a mother. 

PLANTS

KOB 4 talked to the experts at the Alameda Greenhouse about bundling up your outdoor plants, and they shared some tips with us. 

“I know this is weird, but if you water right before a big frost, it actually raises a soil temperature, and you can kind of give it a little bit extra protection around the root system with water,” said Sara Ausbun, general manager of the Alameda Greenhouse. 

Ausbun says the warm weather has been hard for them to get the growing schedule just right. 

If you’re in the same boat and still have summer crops, she shows us how to protect them against the cold. 

“Every night here at the greenhouse, we are making sure we’re covering our tender plants with a frost cloth. It’s a barrier, and it does exactly what it says, it’s going to keep that frost off of your plants so it won’t cause necrosis in your foliage. Here, it keeps it just that layer of protection, and it’s thick enough where it can cover it, but it’s thin enough where it can breathe. And so every night here, we just kind of go for it, and you can roll it up and put it away. We do that every night, and we’re just tucking it underneath, and we’re just making sure that every corner is protected,” said Ausbun. 

She says now is a good time to focus on your indoor jungle. There are a lot of houseplants that are the easy to care for. For example, succulents. 

With the end of the summer growing season, that means moving into winter crops.