The idea that music can have a beneficial impact on plants continues to be debated, not only in the scientific community, but among the general population. With that said, there are many gardeners who swear by the idea that music can help plants thrive. In addition, through the years, there have been scientific studies that support the contention that music can help plants thrive.
Annamalia University Research Study on Music and Plants
Annamalia University is a highly regarded institution of higher learning in India. One of the earliest research studies about the impact of music on plants. In 1962, the head of the Botany Department at the university, Dr. T. C. Singh, oversaw experiments with the effect of different musical sounds on the growth rate of different plants.
The study revealed that balsam plants grew at a faster rate when exposed to music. The increase was significant. The plant experienced a 20 percent increase in height and a remarkable 72 percent in biomass when exposed to music. This is contrasted with a control group that had no music exposure during the same time period.
The experiment initially involved the use of classical music. In addition, researchers experimented with what is known as raga music, which included flute, violin, harmonium, and reena. The results were similar with the different musical selection.
The experiment was later undertaken on field crops. The study revealed that when crops were exposed to music, their size increased between 25 to 60 percent beyond the average in the region.
Ultimately, the researchers at Annamalia University concluded that the violin had the most significant positive impact on the growth of plants.
Rock Music and Plants
A decade later, researcher and author, Dorothy Retallack, conducted a study in which plants were exposed to different types of music or musical sounds. One group of plants was exposed to the F note for a period of eight hours. The second group was exposed to the same note for three hours. The third group was the control category, and was exposed to no sound. Within two weeks, the first group died, while the second group was healthier than the control group.
Armed with this data, the study was taken a step further. Plants exposed to classical music grew towards and intertwined with themselves. Plants exposed to rock music grew away from the speaker. The plants exposed to rock tried to climb a glass enclosure, almost as if they were attempting to get away from the sound.
A follow-up experiment was undertaken involving rock music alone. IN this experiment, different plants were expose to different types of rock music, including Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. Without exception, abnormal vertical growth was observed on all exposed plants. They also had smaller leaves. In the end, researchers found damage on the plants that was similar to that caused by excessive watering. As an aside, marigolds expose to rock music in this study were dead within two weeks. The findings from these studies are included in Dorothy Retallack’s book, The Sound of Music and Plants, which was published in 1973.
Country and Western Music and Plants
Following the studies on the impact of rock music on plants, a similar one was undertaken involving country and western music. A variety of plants were used din the study. In the end, the researchers that exposed plants to country and western music conclude that this musical genre had no impact on plants. Plants were neither enhanced not impaired by exposure to country and western music.
The Scientific Explanation for the Impact of Music on Plants
Plants cannot “hear” music in the traditional sense. Nonetheless, it is conceivable that the vibrations associated with different types of music impacts plants. Specifically, some scientists have concluded that the vibrations cause by music impacts what is known as protoplasmic movement in the cells of plants.
This analysis explains why plants do not respond well to rock music. The stronger vibrations associate with rock music increase the pressure and rate of vibration on the protoplasmic movement in the cells of a plant. This has detrimental affect, similar to a plant being caught in a powerful windstorm.
Conclusion
The “jury is still” out when it comes to hard and fast evidence that music positively impacts plants — or, in some cases, has a negative impact. As a consequence, a majority of commercial growers do not incorporate music into their cultivation regiments. On the other hand, an increasing number of vineyards are exposing their vines to music on a consistent basis and believe it helps with production.
Jessica Kane is a writer for Grow Ace, your best online option for getting your new hydroponic grow operation up and running quickly and easily.
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