• Question: •Does music have an affect on plant growth?

    Asked by jodlington to Kate, Kieren, Nicola, Rowena, Roy on 14 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Kate Nicholson

      Kate Nicholson answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Oooh I remember mythbusters did this one! I was so happy that they didn’t just stick to classical music but played metal to some of the plants too 😀 \m/
      They rated it as plausible because the ones with the music grew best.

    • Photo: Rowena Fletcher-Wood

      Rowena Fletcher-Wood answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      I don’t think there’s any evidence to support this because nobody has done a fair study that I know of: i.e. they compare music to no music.

      There are also claims that talking to plants makes them grow better – but talking isn’t music. This suggests to me that SOUND could be the influencing factor – not rhythmn or tone. Thus a fair test needs to compare soothing voices with chaotic words, random pulses of noise with snippets of music.

      It could well be that VIBRATION influences plant growth, say helps them deliver nutrients faster so they have more energy left for growth. In this case plants wouldn’te differentiate between music and general noise if they got the same amount. It would b

    • Photo: Nicola Rogers

      Nicola Rogers answered on 15 Mar 2014:

      I don’t think so

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