5 Lockdown Lessons from Plants
5 Lockdown Lessons from Plants
Many clients have returned to their offices, and others are reinstating their workforce throughout the coming year. The Biome horticulture technicians have faithfully continued care of their interior plants, making an inviting space to welcome employees back. Plants provide a unique wellness role in the built environment, by maintaining optimal levels of humidity and oxygen while removing harmful airborne contaminants. Indoor plants are truly essential in creating the safe workspace staff expect upon their return.
The lockdown produced circumstances we have never seen before, and as horticulture experts, we had first-hand reminders of how the extraordinary conditions of a pandemic affect office plants. Here are a few observations we encountered while caring for plants in unmanned buildings:
People Missed Their Plants
Biome moved plants out of darkened spaces during the early stages of lockdown. When employees came back, they tracked Biome’s techs down to ask that plants be re-installed in their original locations. Why? They missed their plants! Entering an office without plants felt bleak and lifeless for returning employees. The void of green plants was noticeable, and the Biome Team has been happy to reunite clients with plants upon their re-entry.
Plants Missed People
We’re not saying plants experience loneliness, and certainly in the ‘wild’ many don’t have humans around at all. However, we found that some plants exhibited subtle changes in vacated worksites. Certainly plants adapt to the rhythms of office staff as they come and go throughout the day; but maybe they are acclimated to various energy staff produce indoors too, and thus showed subtle signs of ‘missing’ the sound waves, electromagnetic fields, and even physical movement of air from a passer-by. These ‘people-generated’ changes of interior atmospheres may act as stimulus likened to those in nature. Without a doubt, we could see our indoor plants droop a little when lacking normal human activity during the initial stages of the shutdown.
A Plant’s Nemesis: Motion-Activated Lights —without Motion
Motion-sensing lights are great energy-savers. However, without staff present to trigger the switches, plants did not have sufficient light. The worst cases were in windowless offices, where plants are entirely dependent on artificial lighting, leaving plants unable to absorb much needed energy for growth and vitality. Thankfully, our Biome technicians recognized this issue at the onset of lockdown, and moved plants to suitable locations with natural light, whenever possible.
Plants Enjoyed Being Pest-Free
Although insects are uncommon with indoor plants, they come in via open doors, people’s clothing, and personal plants brought inside. These same pests take up residence in our otherwise healthy office plants. Furthermore, these hitchhiking pests reproduce if food waste is present in wastebaskets, which often have wrappers, crumbs, sweet beverage containers and fruit peels. During lockdown, insects coming in from outdoors have been almost non-existent, allowing the plants to enjoy a pest-free environment.
Professional Care was a LifeSaver
Many employees left behind their personal foliage-friends for a lone worker to tend while gone, only to come back to the remnants of their orphaned plant. Without proper light, water, and care, many personal plants struggled to survive. Where we could, Biome techs intervened and saved countless plant-lives throughout this pandemic.
Whether your staff has never left, or are soon to return, let us know if your office space needs beautiful, healthy plants. We offer expertise in design, installation, and maintenance of living botanical interiors, available throughout Idaho’s Treasure and Magic Valleys. Give us a call: 208-343-1787
