Did you know that music can affect plant growth? Whether it be positively or negatively, it’s true: music can affect how plants grow. Plants respond to the vibrations that surround them, including the vibrations that music makes. When sound is made, the pressure from sound waves makes vibrations that our brains “translate” into something, such as musical sounds. Plants “translate” these sounds in a different way, since they cannot hear like humans do. Plants feel the vibrations caused by sound waves. How does this affect their growth? The vibrations can influence movement in the cells of the plant that cause it to grow. Different types of music can cause different vibrations, and therefore, cause a different influence on the plant’s growth.
Let’s take a look at Classical Music and Rock Music in regards to plant growth. In 1973, two experiments were done. In one, the note F was played to a group of plants for 8 hours; another group received the same note for 3 hours; the third group of plants was left silent. The first group died in 2 weeks, and the second group ended up being much more healthy than the last group (the silent group).
In the other experiment, one group of plants was exposed to classical music, while another group was exposed to rock music. The results? The plants to which classical music was played grew towards the speakers. Some of the plants even wrapped themselves around the speakers. The group of plants that rock music was played to grew away from the speakers as if wishing to get away from the sound and vibrations the rock music produced.
Now, let’s take a look at plant growth when Country and Jazz Music are played in the plant’s environment. In the experiment, country music seemingly had no effect on plant growth. Plants exposed to country music had similar growth patterns to those that were exposed to complete silence. However, jazz music had a beneficial effect on the plants’ growth, showing a much higher growth rate than the plants exposed to country music.
As you can see in the two experiments, music’s effect on plant growth is more than just a myth. It’s a well-studied topic that could even be a fun at-home experiment for you to try. See how music affects your plants!
Sources:
https://dengarden.com/gardening/the-effect-of-music-on-plant-growth
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/does-music-affect-plant-growth.html
