Everyone is aware of the essentials a plant needs to continue to grow rather than die off, which includes an adequate supply of water, plenty of sunlight, and healthy soil. Even with all of those ingredients, some people suffer from having a “black thumb,” or the inability to keep a plant alive. It has been said that singing to a plant will ensure that it will live to its full potential and continue to bear more leaves, but can it be proven that a few verses from Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star or Let It Go is the answer to whether or not a plant will thrive?
The Myth Busters from Discovery Channel decided to take this logic into their own hands to discover whether singing to a garden will have a positive impact on the plants or just make one appear crazy to the neighbors. The Myth Busters divided 60 pea plants amongst three greenhouses, one playing positive, praise music, the second playing harsh insults, and the third and final greenhouse silent from any music. Researchers recorded the growth of the plants following 60 days and noticed the greenhouse plants had the worst progress, while the other two greenhouse plants were relatively the same in quality and productivity, proving plant’s cannot absorb what is being spoken to them. A separate study found that young corn stalks would grow leaning towards the source of the constant music and showed different progress depending on the song choice and level of frequencies.
The idea that music could stimulate a plant’s growth originated in 1848 when Gustav Theodor Fechner declared pl
ants had souls and similar to humans, plants possessed a hierarchy of minds. He was determined to prove there was a connection between sensation and stimulus or the measurement of noticeable differences, the actual weight versus the perceived weight. While Fechner’s work is rarely regarded in the modern day and plants do not have souls, scientists have discovered a probable reasoning for the benefits of music.
It is obvious that plants have the ability to sense what is going on around them from reacting to the change in temperature, weather, and possible prey through vibrations. vibrations. Music that plays around a plant emits sound waves which may stimulate the root systems or cause a reaction to promote rapid growth. An article posted on Penn State News reports on a South Korean study on this topic, pointing out that South Korea’s National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology speculates that either genes Ald or rbcS, responsible for a plant’s reaction to light can be credited with the change from 70 decibel sound waves. It has not been proven yet, but a probable way for sound waves to get detected is through the proteins present in plant’s leaves that can respond to pressure in the cell membranes. A plant uses this to respond to possible threats such as weather and animals and absorb the necessary amount of light.
The next time the dead plants in the garden, unable to survive the harsh treatment of one’s black thumb, appear past revival, try subjecting the plants to some classical tunes or even heavy metal. The sound waves will stimulate the responses the plant uses to protect itself for survival and will in turn simulate growth and advance flowering. A simple change in routine, adding a stereo to a greenhouse, could mean either life or death for a plant.