Do your gardenias grooves to Gershwin or your marigolds melt to Mozart? Perhaps
your peonies perk up to Pavarotti and your roses rock out to the Ramones? There
is much speculation in the scientific community, but many gardeners swear music
will revive wilting plants and urge flowers to bloom. In 1973, the revolutionary
book The Sound of Music and Plants was written by Dorothy Retallack on
scientific experiments involving plants and music.
Retallack's book was based not on myths but facts. Yes, she conducted
experiments to come to the conclusion that music has an everlasting affect on
plants. Retallack placed plants of same species in three separate laboratories
at the Colorado Women's College, Denver. She played different durations of music
to each plant and analyzed their growth pattern. What she observed was that the
plant that listened to music three hours a day grew thrice as large and twice as
strong as the plant that was placed in the music-free environment.
Dorothy Retallack tried experimenting with different types of music. She
played rock to one group of plants and soothing music to another. The group that
heard rock turned out to be sickly and small whereas the other group grew large
and healthy. What's more surprising is that the group of plants listening to the
soothing music grew bending towards the radio just as they bend towards the
sunlight.
This experiment was a great eye-opener for plant lovers. They started playing
music to their plants and strongly recommended others to do the same and also
pick the right type of music for your plants. Remember that slow and soothing
music has a beneficial effect on plants, and loud and jarring music has a
harmful effect on them. Another point to be considered is the length of time to
play music to the plants. Dorothy Retallack showed through her experiments that
about three hours of music a day is just right. More than that would damage the
growth of your plants. As a rule, plants have shown the best response to
classical music. That is why plant lovers like to play Mozart, Bach and
Beethoven rather than more boisterous music.
Although music is not an absolutely proven factor in plant development,
several studies, along with Dorothy Retallack's groundbreaking series of
experiments, have aided the musical development theory. If you are interested in
exploring this option with your own garden, consult The Sound of Music and
Plants or other resources to ensure you expose your plants to the optimal type
of music for the appropriate amount of time.
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