When you bring plants into your home, you invite Wood energy into your life. Plants belong to the Wood Element in Feng Shui. And Wood energy attracts vitality and growth, prosperity and abundance.
Contents
- Wood energy is healing energy
- Sick plants act like energy vampires
- What to do when plants are ailing
- Here’s to attracting plant energy, health, prosperity and abundance
Wood energy is healing energy
Healthy houseplants in your home or office connect you with Wood’s vital energy. Beautiful plants uplift your spirits and make you feel good simply by being present
Need proof? How do you feel about having a bouquet of fresh flowers placed on your desk? Have you ever felt unhappy or sad seeing a florist walk up to your front door with a gorgeous plant for you?
Even thinking about a walk in the woods or gazing at a forest path can shift your energy from frazzled to more relaxed. Live plants, by their presence, help our spirits heal and thrive.
Studies show connecting to nature has a significant impact on our health. Here’s part of a report from the University of Minnesota’s Earl F Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing.
Sick plants act like energy vampires
I call sick plants energy vampires because they micro-zap your energy and reduce your quality of life. If healthy plants attract vitality and health, sick plants do the opposite.
Fight energy vampires with a green thumb
For years every plant I brought inside my home mysteriously died. Finally, I took a master gardener course to find out why I couldn’t grow lush plants like some of my friends.
What I now understand as a Feng Shui practitioner is this. Some people are more naturally attuned to Wood and plant energy than others. These lucky souls seem to communicate wordlessly with plants and effortlessly surround themselves with beautiful greenery.
The rest of us have to learn. My plants now thrive, and I benefit from their abundant energy. If you’d like to get rid of your energy vampires and maintain healthy houseplants, here’s a crash course for developing a green thumb.
Choose plants that love the home you have
Don’t argue with Mother Nature. Insisting that a plant you love for its looks be happy in a location it hates is a no-win situation.
Plants are living organisms, not inanimate objects. Respect the fact that plants will not grow under the wrong conditions. But they’ll flourish the moment you give them what they want. So choose plants that love conditions your home has to offer. That’s the first secret to success.
If you have little to almost no light, you can still enjoy live plants in your home. Invest in Lucky Bamboo. Lucky Bamboo can be pricey, yes, but it also can thrive for years in dark locations with very little care. Beware too much light, though. Lucky bamboo becomes leggy, turns pale green and dies.
Care is easy. Just add distilled water to the container and Lucky Bamboo thrives with no other help from you. An occasional misting with distilled water is nice
Toss sick plants or move them to a better location
If you have unhappy plants, move them to another location or toss them. Select plants that like the locations you have. If you need information about what plants to choose, check out the Plant Expert for good advice on Choosing House Plants.
Plants, like pets, require attention, care and nurturing
Once a houseplant enters your home or office, you become responsible for its well-being. Certain plants require a lot of attention, and others need little attention at all. Make time to understand what you’re getting into, and if you’re willing to provide proper care.
The act of nurturing a plant changes your relationship to the plant and may silently nudge you to nurture your own personal needs. Or perhaps you’ll take charge of a personal issue you’ve been neglecting and experience more vitality as a result.
What to do when plants are ailing
Do your plants mysteriously get sick, wilt and die a few weeks after you bring them home? Do they fail no matter what you do to make them happy? You may have thought you had a black thumb, but a little knowledge can turn your thumb to green.
Most houseplant failures stem from water issues
Obviously, pests and diseases may also cause plant failure. But for now, I’m focusing on the number one problem faced by new houseplant owner’s – plant wilt and death.
4 most likely reasons you’re killing your plants
Leaf wilt is a clear sign your plant is in distress. Do you immediately pull out the watering can? Did your plant die anyway? Here’s a hint to why: light acts as nature’s water pump, pulling water and nutrients into stems and leaves. This makes plants stand tall and firm. Here are the primary reasons plants wilt.
- Available light (nature’s water pump) is too weak and the plant can’t draw sufficient water from the soil to the leaves
- Available light is perfect, but the soil is saturated. The plant’s roots are drowning and rotting. Rotten roots can’t draw water into the plant
- The light is too bright and exhausts the plant’s systems. Exhaustion puts the plant in overdrive and works the plant to death
- The soil has dried out and no moisture’s left to refresh the plant.
4 ways to bring wilted plants back to life
Most plants are tough and can recover from wilt. They can even recover from severe wilt so long as their roots haven’t died. Match the four cures below to the four likely reasons for wilt given above.
- Add more light to pull available water from the soil to stems and leaves. Mist the leaves with distilled water
- Stop watering to allow the soil to dry out for a few days. Give it good air circulation and mist the leaves with distilled water
- Move a light exhausted plant to a shady area and allow it to rest. Exhausted plants can sometimes recover if they’re not too far gone. Replace the plant if it hasn’t recovered within a week
- Water dry soil so there’s enough water to pump into the plant. Dry soil can be hard to moisten. Set the plant in a saucer of distilled water to allow the soil to absorb water slowly from the bottom.
IMPORTANT: REMOVE PLANTS FROM SAUCERS OF WATER ONCE THEIR ROOT BALLS HAVE BEEN MOISTENED.
5 tips to keep plants green and beautiful
- Water houseplants with distilled water instead of drinking water to prevent leaf burn, stress and discoloration
- Literally pick up your plant when the soil is thoroughly moist. Notice how heavy the pot feels.
- Re-water plants only when the pot weighs roughly half as much as when its thoroughly moist (or as soon as the leaves start to droop if that comes first)
- Mist leaves with distilled water between waterings. Leaves absorb water through their surface
- Allow the top soil layer to dry out (on most plants) before you re-water. Use pot weight to best determine when to water again.
- Unless you want to grow your plant into in a larger container, use only a dilute solution of fertilizer every month or two to keep it healthy
Here’s to attracting plant energy, health, prosperity and abundance
Feng Shui is the art of seeing what’s hidden plain sight. Most people think of houseplants only as pretty accessories to their homes. Feng Shui practitioners see plants as so much more.
Recognizing a plant’s hidden qualities changes your relationship to nature, and sometimes to yourself. On an energetic level, plants communicate with your unconscious to attract health, prosperity and abundance. Plants lift your spirits, oxygenate the air you breathe, and lend vitality and vibrancy to your life.
If you have questions about plants and Wood energy, leave a comment below. I’d like to know what’s on your mind and love answering questions.
