Maintaining Immunity through Ornamental Plants

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Meri Haryanti, a resident of Palembang City, shows ornamental plants on her house terrace at Villa Bari Indah, Palenbang, on Sunday (4/10/2020).

Engaging in a hobby helps keep people’s minds fresh and provides happiness, thereby boosting immunity. This method has been used a portion of Palembang residents through the hobby of cultivating ornamental plants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Meri Heriyanti, 57, has become increasingly passionate about cultivating ornamental plants in her yard at the Bari Indah Villa Housing Complex in Ilir Timur II district, Palembang, South Sumatra. The yard measuring 2 meters by 6 meters looks beautiful with a collection of ornamental plants, such as anthurium, aglonema and monstera. The prices also vary, from Rp 30,000 to Rp 2.5 million.

Realizing that Covid-19 is a serious threat because she has a history of diabetes, the housewife has chosen not to leave the house too frequently. Moreover, until now Palembang has never been separated from the status of being at risk of Covid-19 transmission, ranging from the moderate to high level. "Cultivating ornamental plants gives a sense of calm and freshness of mind," said Meri, Sunday (4/10/2020).

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She is lucky that her husband has a similar hobby. The difference is that her husband cultivates bonsai plants. Their collection of ornamental plants totals about 40 pots.

Not only Meri, Sri Wahyuni Rini, her neighbor, also has a hobby of taking care of ornamental plants. "We are happy to ‘hunt’ plants together," said Sri.

During this pandemic, the "hunting" is carried out online to avoid the risk of the transmission of Covid-19. The target is not only around Palembang, but also outside the city, such as Medan, Yogyakarta and Lampung. It is not uncommon for these two housewives to exchange seedlings.

"The goal is, if the ornamental plants are dead, there will still be reserves," said Sri, a graduate of the School of Agriculture, Muhammadiyah University of Palembang.

Sri and Meri are among Palembang residents who are into gardening. The goal is to not get stressed while having to stay at home to avoid contracting Covid-19.

The hobby of taking care of ornamental plants brings blessings to the sellers. Malkun, 60, an ornamental plant seller in the Kenten area, said his income had doubled during the pandemic.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Meri Haryanti, a resident of Palembang City, shows ornamental plants on her house terrace at Villa Bari Indah, Palenbang, on Sunday (4/10/2020).

"Usually in one day I only sell 5-10 plants, now it can reach 20-30 plants," said Malkun, who has been in the business for three decades.

Due to the many customers, he has difficulty meeting the needs of the buyers. Moreover, a number of plant agents outside the city where he used to buy, in Central Java, East Java, Jakarta, and Lampung, are also flooded with similar demands.

This has caused the price of several types of plants to soar to millions of rupiah. Not only plants, a large quantity of planting media, such as coconut husk, fertilizers and stalks, are also being ordered these days.

Being in the ornamental plant business is not just a matter of buying and selling. Holdi, 34, an ornamental plant seller at the Palembang Ornamental and Food Crop Sales Center, said he also teaches consumers how to take care of the plants.

"Customers like to get knowledge and tips on how to take care of plants," he said.

The pandemic has caused an increased popularity of ornamental plants. In the past, anthurium plants of gelombang cinta type and orchids were widely hunted. Now, the types of monstera and aglonema are much popular.

With adequate availability of green land, people\'s interest in collecting plants will increase.

Kuku Hardianto, an architect in Palembang, said his hobby of looking after ornamental plants will continue to grow. Moreover, a number of houses have begun to apply a building floor coefficient of 40 percent for green land and 60 percent for buildings. With adequate availability of green land, people\'s interest in collecting plants will increase.

Maintaining immunity

Various hobbies, according to the director of the Pusri Palembang Hospital, Yuwono, help people to adapt to the current situation. Having hobbies can bring positive thoughts, briefly getting people’s minds off various matters related to Covid-19. When positive thoughts appear, the body\'s resistance or immunity increases. "When immunity increases, the body\'s risk of being infected by the disease decreases," he said.

The same thing was disclosed by the head of the Surveillance and Immunization Section of the South Sumatra Health Office, Yusri. In the pandemic, people are susceptible to various psychosomatic diseases. It is a condition that describes the appearance of a physical illness that is believed to be caused or exacerbated by a mental condition.

To maintain mental health, according to Yusri, having a hobby is a quite effective way. However, the hobby in question is not one that is exhausting. "Of course the hobby must be adapted to the condition of the body. If it is too exhausted, the body\'s immunity will decrease,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has indeed not been easy for many. The way some Palembang residents have chosen to encourage their hobby of taking care of ornamental plants can be an inspiration.