My first experience with growing plants was in Grade 2; our teacher had us care for them as a science project. Looking back, I’m pretty sure they were giant, leafy weeds. When I finally brought them home, I planted it in my mom’s garden, and it ended up taking over and killing all of the other flowers. I was ecstatic, but my mom was not.

Photos by Olivia Genovese

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of my many attempts at growing plants to-date. Am I over-watering? Under-watering? Do they have enough sunlight? Too much sunlight? Are they cold? Are they happy? WHY DON’T THEY SPEAK? The questions and paranoia are endless.

Perhaps my inability to keep plants alive is why I’ve resorted to maintaining a virtual garden (aka my camera roll). A recent trip to Coachella resulted in hundreds of photos of plants. Weird, right? Instead of selfies with Leo DiCaprio (an opportunity I let slip) or blurry concert photos (OK, I have some of those too), my photographic evidence that I had the !!best time ever!! is replaced with close-ups of cacti and agave.

Luckily for my green thumb, I’ve discovered the secret to growing plants.

Are you ready? Well, it’s a dope album from the 70’s. Okay. So, it’s not really a *secret*. As the album cover suggests Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Mort Garson is “warm earth music for plants”¦and the people who love them.” Garson was a true pioneer of electronic music, and one of the first to use Moog synthesizers, an instrument that generates electric signals and converts them to sound, in his albums.

Even if the music itself doesn’t inspire your indoor succulents to reach new heights, perhaps it will instill in you a sense of calm and confidence that will manifest itself in your gardening skills. At the very least, it’s a really great album that I can’t stop playing. Hit the play button and let the melodic synths seep into your plants and your heart for optimal growth*.

*Water/Food/Sunlight still necessary!