How Music Affects the Growth of Plants
Music is so powerful it can affect the growth of plants! Dorothy Retallack, a graduate student in Denver, Colorado, placed plants in five greenhouses with different types of music playing All the greenhouses had identical soil, light and water conditions.
1. The plants in the greenhouse with classical and Indian music thrived, were green and healthy, and had many flowers. They leaned toward the music, just like they grow toward the sun.
2. The plants where country/western music was playing grew the same as those with no music – at a moderate rate, with a normal amount of flowers.
3. The plants that were exposed to loud acid rock music had stunted growth, with no flowers – in fact, many plants withered and died. They turned away from the rock music.
Does Rock Music Cause Erratic Behavior?
After performing this experiment, Ms. Retallack commented, “If rock music has an adverse effect on plants, is the rock music listened to so long and so often by the younger generation partly responsible for their erratic, chaotic behavior? Could the discordant sounds we hear these days be the reason humanity is growing neurotic?”
Ancients Knew Beautiful Harmonious Music Was Beneficial for Plants.
Another study by Dr. T.C. Singh of the Botany Department at Annamalai University, India, had similar results. He found that the plants exposed to classical music grew at twice their normal rate, and that later generations of the seeds from the stimulated plants also were larger and had more lush foliage. If different types of music had this effect on plants, imagine how music can influence human beings! Ancients intuitively knew this even before there was controlled research. They believed the finest flowers would grow near the temples, where beautiful, harmonious music was played.
From my book, Music, Healing and Harmony.