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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1515;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\f0\fs20 1. Do not treat your plants like furniture, automatically watering them when you feel like it, or ignoring their needs when it is convenient for you to do so, such as on a holiday.\par
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2. Remember that plants need light, and if there is a question of decorative use of plants which prevents them from having access to light, be aware of the damage you may be doing to them.\par
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3. Your plant is sensitive to your moods and to the words, thoughts and feelings prevalent in the environment in which it lives. If the atmosphere is negatively charged, the plant will pick it up and act accordingly. Conversely, a happy and positive atmosphere stimulates a plant to be healthier and grow more.\par
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4. Praise and expressions of satisfaction at the progress a plant makes are not lost upon it. Whether these thoughts are expressed aloud or in your thoughts make no difference. It is useful to survey the plants in your house periodically and to make comments upon each one of them individually, encouraging them to do better if necessary, and noting with satisfaction the progress already made. Progress indicates full growth, flowering (in a flowering plant), and a general display of a healthy state. \par
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5. Your plants share your living or working quarters, as the case may be; they are not merely decorations in them. Whatever alterations you make in your surroundings affects your plants. While it may not be practical to consult them on any contemplated changes, you should consider the effect changes may have on individual plants, such as altering their access to light and heat, or other elements that may be disturbing to the plant and require periods of adjustment. Do not allow strangers to hurt your plants, or to abuse them, just because you are too polite to say anything about it.\par
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6. If you bring home a new plant, or someone gives you a plant, do not automatically place it wherever you wish without due regard to the plants you already have. Just as a new puppy needs to be introduced to an older dog in your environment, if you have a pet, so the new plant wants to be introduced, so to speak, and fitted into an unfamiliar environment. Only then will it thrive for all the new arrival is just as sensitive to the new surroundings and may indeed interact with other plants in your environment as you yourself do.\par
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7. Consider the sensitivities of plants. If you must destroy a plant, cut flowers, or throw out a dead plant, do so outside the perception of your other plants. Avoid thinking about it when you do it, for plants can pick up your thoughts as well. As for eating plants, in the form of vegetables, that is a matter I will refer to later on in this work, but it is no more conducive to good relationships between a plant and yourself, nor in any better taste, to prepare plants for cooking in full view of your living plants than it would be to show a rabbit's foot "worn for good luck" to a living rabbit.\f1\fs24\par
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