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Music: The Fuel for Plant Souls
Decroul Musquel
Plants and Music
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.
About The Author
Decroul Musquel is the administrator and delegate of B Factory Music, your source for all of your music news and needs. Find the music news you want at: http://www.bfactormusic.com
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