MadSci Network: Botany
Query:

Re: The effect of Music on Plants?

Date: Mon Apr 9 00:05:02 2001
Posted By: David Hershey, Faculty, Botany, NA
Area of science: Botany
ID: 986269869.Bt
Message:

Full Question:

I have to ask the question, have you read any info on this topic. After 
reading, I have come to the conclusion that maybe the guard cells of the 
stomata complex are being stimulated, at the hertz frequencies between 3000-
5000. Used inconjunction with a foliar feed spray, maybe somthing high in 
possasium ions(Some type of ionic water stimulator) to to induce uptake of 
nutrients. I, for one, try not to make assumptions without proof. I will be 
testing Dan carlson's product (sonic bloom) out, starting 1st of may. Please 
write back and disprove me with science. Thanks matty

Response:

Sonic Bloom has some ingredients that definitely can increase plant growth, 
such as mineral nutrients and the plant hormone gibberellin. However, the claim 
that certain sounds will open stomata wider does not seem to have any 
scientific validity. If you look on the Sonic Bloom webpage, they show two 
pictures of a stoma and claim that the Sonic Bloom treated stoma is open 
further than the untreated one. However, the untreated stoma is clearly open 
wider. If certain sounds could make stomata open wider, then real scientists 
would run experiments to confirm it and publish the results in scientific 
journals. 

To do a scientific test of Sonic Bloom, you would need to apply Sonic Bloom to 
two identical groups of plants under identical environmental conditions. Then 
one group would be exposed to the sound and the other kept quiet. The plant 
growth would have to be measured and statistically analysed. I have not seen 
that kind of research. If you examine the list of articles on the Sonic Bloom 
website, you find that none are from scientific journals, but are stories and 
interviews from popular magazines, newsletters, and newspapers. That is not 
scientific evidence. Real scientific evidence on the effectiveness of Sonic 
Bloom or the ability of certain sounds to make stomata open wider would be 
published in refereed scientific journals such as "Science" or "Plant 
Physiology."  


I am a plant physiologist, and a lot of the claims made on the Sonic Bloom 
website do not agree with scientific concepts of plant growth. For example, the 
website claims that stomata normally suck up trace elements in morning dew. 
However, virtually all trace elements are absorbed by the roots, not via 
stomata. Research by actual scientists with music/audio effects on plants has 
found no beneficial effects. 


References


Sonic Bloom website"


Science Projects on Music and Sound



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