Plants got feelings as well

[CimaDirapa]

Well sort of,

Just finished reading an excellent book called 'What Plant Knows', it is research into why plants do things the way they do and really brings information from the current research in plant science, for example why plants all give their crop at the same time and can plants tell if someone approach them!

[Florence Fennel]

Every reason to talk to them then and a pity they can't call out "slug, slug" as an alert!

[dominic10]

So what does Basil prefer? Bach or Led Zeppelin? One of my runnber beans was much taller than the rest. It was only a passing comment to my OH but most of them had reached the same height within a day or two..Even the tiny one had doubled in size.

[solway cropper]

It must be very frustrating for plants being able to sense danger and then having to remain rooted to the spot!

[CimaDirapa]

Every reason to talk to them then and a pity they can't call out "slug, slug" as an alert!

The book actually talk about this. Cultivated varieties although cropping better and bigger lost their natural protection which includes the ability to communicate about danger with other plants that share the same soil.

They try in the US now to grow wild varieties next to cultivated ones in order to reduce the amount of pesticides, most notably wild cotton next to cultivated cotton as this is one of the heaviest sprayed plant in agriculture.

Tobacco plants emit gas when attacked by a certain caterpillar that tell a certain small wasp that these pillars are around and to come down and eat them. These pests are the only food the Wasp's younglings will eat, the book explain how this snitching mechanism works in details.

Did you know rice has 48,000 genes compare to the 22000 or so humans have?!

[Peas'n'Kews]

Maybe we should get the plants to talk to us, instead of us burbbling to them - we only have to listen!

I think I need to have a conversation with some of my small runners....

P.S. the Runner beans want Dexy's Midnight Runners, and the lettuce want prayers.....