Reiki Zinnias at Two Months

It's been two months since I first sowed the "Envy" Zinnias and began Round 2 of the Reiki Plant Experiment. Here is the final picture before they go out into the garden, and the final indoor stats:

Non-Reiki pot on L (white label), Reiki pot on R, MR, Sep2014

The Reiki pot is on the right, and non-Reiki pot on the left (with the white label). Here are the growth stats:
# of plants in pot:  Reiki 7, non-Reiki 4
Height in cm of tallest plant: Reiki 15cm, non-Reiki 13cm
Width of largest plant, leaf-tip to leaf-tip: Reiki 10cm, non-Reiki 10cm

So the Reiki pot did come out ahead in terms of numbers, health of plants, and height. The width of the plants remained the same. The Reiki pot certainly looks more robust, and that is encouraging. I'll be ready for Round 3 in October.

Reiki Plant Update: The Zinnias at Day 47

I did not know what to expect when I started my (somewhat) scientific, second round of the Reiki Plant Experiments. I sowed the "Envy" zinnias on July 7.

July 7, 2014, Non-Reiki on L, Reiki on R, MR

 Five seeds were planted per pot. Each pot has received identical care except for daily Reiki treatments for the Reiki pot (R), and no treatments for the Non-Reiki (NR) pot. During early growth, the Reiki pot had plants that were growing closer together than the NR plants:

NR pot above, R pot below, MR

Here they are at Day 44:

Non-Reiki pot on L, Reiki pot on R. Aug 23, 2014, MR

Here are the stats: Non-Reiki Zinnias-- 4 healthy plants total, one dying. Tallest plant is 10cm from soil base to apical meristem, and 7cm across widest leaf pair. Reiki Zinnias, 7 healthy plants, tallest plant is 10cm from soil base to apical meristem, 8cm across for widest leaf pair.

Seven plants? That's just plain darned weird. When the sixth plant showed up, I assumed I had miscounted the seeds and sown an extra. I am still assuming this. But a week later, when the seventh showed up, I was pretty dumbfounded. Zinnia seeds are large, and I had counted and sown carefully. I really don't think I could have goofed up that badly. During the next round, I will have two people carefully count the seeds and observe the sowing to avoid any confusion. I will probably grow peas or beans, which have seeds far too large to miscount. So we'll work this little mystery out on the next round!

(And, as a note, the pots in the above photo are not in their normal places, they are posing on a box. They get identical sunshine time on a special shelf in the house.)

I hope any other gardeners doing this Reiki Plant Experiment will chime in with their results!

Reiki Plant Notes and Two Final Flower Portraits

Another week has gone by for the Reiki/non-Reiki zinnias, and there is a peculiar difference:

Reiki Zinnias, below: July 22, 2014, MR

Both sets of plants are growing well, and are about the same size. The Reiki zinnias sprouted a full 24 hours before the non-Reiki, but now they are growing apace. However, the non-Reiki zinnias are growing further apart, while the Reiki zinnias have grown closer together. In addition, they are given the same amount of sunlight, yet the non-Reiki zinnias have longer stems and show stronger positive phototropism, whereas the Reiki plants are growing straight, and their stems are shorter. Is this because the non-Reiki plants need more light than the Reiki plants? I don't know. What do you think? The experiment continues....

And now for something completely different-- my two final "flower portraits" (really, I know I said that before) from my spring garden, one for Mexican tuberose, the other for sunflower:

Mexican Tuberose Portrait, MR, 2014

Sunflower Portrait, MR, 2014

Reiki For Plants: Let's Grow Zinnias!

Zinnia elegans var. "Envy" is engaged in a Reiki For Plants experiment. It began on July 8, 2014:

Zinnia elegans "Envy", photo courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art

Each pot has had 5 Zinnia seeds sown. One pot is receiving daily Reiki from two practioners (I'm one of them).  The other pot is kept in identical conditions except for the Reiki- it gets none. The zinnia seeds were sown on July 8, 2014. Today, July 13, 2014, the Reiki pot (in the photo below, it's on the left) has 3 sprouts, and primary leaves are visible on one of the three. The non-Reiki plant (in photo below, on right) has one seed just beginning to sprout, though it is not easy to see yet.

Reiki Zinnias left, non-Reiki Zinnias, right, July 13, 2014

I'll keep you all updated!

Reiki: Good for Plants?

I finished my Level 2 Reiki training last year, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my new practice. Reiki is a Japanese-derived (now international) form of stress reduction, healing, and relaxation. Reiki has been around for nearly a century now. It's primarily used with people and sometimes animals, in homes, clinics, and hospitals. Some practitioners have been using Reiki in their gardens, but there's been no research on plant Reiki that I can find.

Morikami Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida, MR

I'm thinking of developing a research project, as controlled as possible given that it won't be done in a lab, that looks for a possible correlation between Reiki and plant growth/ health. Tillies seem like a good choice for subjects, as they are small, portable, and don't involve dirt.

Are there any other Reiki practitioners who also garden out there who'd like to try along with me, once I develop a home-based protocol? Could be interesting!

If you're curious and want to get involved, let me know!