One of the reasons that I love being an avid reader is that so frequently it lets really interesting, offbeat news items cross my path — things that I might never know about otherwise. For instance, I read about some fascinating research regarding plants in a recent issue of The Week.
It seems that some British and Australian researchers have found possible evidence that plants may communicate with each other by sound, at frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear. The researchers conducted some interesting experiments; in one, they found that the roots of corn seedlings make a continuous clicking sound. When the recorded sound was replayed in the lab, the corn roots grew in the direction of the sound, similar to the way in which plants will grow toward a light source.
Another plant studied was fennel, which is known to release a chemical that slows the growth of adjacent plants. The researchers then put the fennel into a plastic box that kept the chemical from entering the soil. Chili peppers that were planted close by the enclosed fennel grew faster. Granted, the researchers were working only with theory here, but their idea was that there were some sounds that weren’t blocked by the box, and the chili peppers were putting on the extra growth in anticipation of the chemical release by the fennel!
Now, those of us of a certain age will recall a time when talking to your plants was in vogue. It was supposed to make them grow better and faster. Some people swore by it, some dismissed it as hooey. Myself, I always talk to plants and always have. Of course, people who know me well will tell you that I talk to pretty much anything: animal, vegetable or mineral. My friends often get a great deal of innocent amusement at my expense.
Returning to this research, however, it does seem to indicate what gardeners have always known, or at least believed: that plants are sentient beings, and we should treat them with great respect.
One of the reasons that I love being an avid reader is that so frequently it lets really interesting, offbeat news items cross my path — things that I might never know about otherwise. For instance, I read about some fascinating research regarding plants in a recent issue of The Week.
It seems that some British and Australian researchers have found possible evidence that plants may communicate with each other by sound, at frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear. The researchers conducted some interesting experiments; in one, they found that the roots of corn seedlings make a continuous clicking sound. When the recorded sound was replayed in the lab, the corn roots grew in the direction of the sound, similar to the way in which plants will grow toward a light source.
Another plant studied was fennel, which is known to release a chemical that slows the growth of adjacent plants. The researchers then put the fennel into a plastic box that kept the chemical from entering the soil. Chili peppers that were planted close by the enclosed fennel grew faster. Granted, the researchers were working only with theory here, but their idea was that there were some sounds that weren’t blocked by the box, and the chili peppers were putting on the extra growth in anticipation of the chemical release by the fennel!
Now, those of us of a certain age will recall a time when talking to your plants was in vogue. It was supposed to make them grow better and faster. Some people swore by it, some dismissed it as hooey. Myself, I always talk to plants and always have. Of course, people who know me well will tell you that I talk to pretty much anything: animal, vegetable or mineral. My friends often get a great deal of innocent amusement at my expense.
Returning to this research, however, it does seem to indicate what gardeners have always known, or at least believed: that plants are sentient beings, and we should treat them with great respect.
