plant experiment with music

Classical vs Rock Music for Plants to Grow: Plant Experiment

Classical & rock music for plants: do plants like music.

There’s plenty of research on this matter, however, there are no definitive conclusions. If you ever asked yourself what is the best music for plants to grow or do plants grow faster with music, we are here to present you with the results we obtained through our experiment.

What is the Best Music to Play for Plants?

Some say classical music is the best music for plants, while others tend to agree any type will yield the same results as long as it’s within acceptable noise levels. We decided to put the many theories on the effect of music on plant growth to the test.

Therefore, we conducted our own experiment with our plants and equipment to find out what kind of music do plants like. Read on to see how we did it, what plants we used, and how we measured the impact of music on plants. You can also use the illustrated results below to check out our results:

Does Music Help Plants Grow? Here’s the Research:

It’s generally well-accepted that music affects plant growth and health and we also know why:

• Certain sound frequencies stimulate the movement of cytoplasm in the plants’ cells , which boosts metabolism and, therefore, growth.
• Sound also influences the opening and closing of stomata – the tiny pores that act like primitive lungs on plants. Music helps a stoma stay open for longer, thus taking in more air and growing faster.
• Some sound frequencies activate genes that speed up plant growth.

Further research on the type of music for plants and sound frequency concluded with the following results:

• Classical music made plants grow better, bushier, and greener, with healthier stems.
• Jazz music also accelerated growth and made plants fuller.
• Heavy metal music, together with new age and Celtic tunes increase both plant mass AND fruit taste.
• Country and western music for plants had no effects on development.
• Noisy rock music damages plants in the same way excess water or heavy winds do.

Previous Studies & Experiments on the Best Music for Plants

Here’s a short rundown of some previous experiments on the effects of music on plants:

These experiments have been conducted both on open field cultures and greenhouse plants using various levels of sound pressure and frequencies. The research was coordinated by Reda HE Hassanien, Tian-Zhen HOU, Yu-Feng LI, and Bao-Ming LI, and the findings were published in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture .

Sound waves of 100 dB and 1 kHz played for one hour at a distance of 0.2 meters (7.8 inches):

• Sped up the division and cell wall fluidity in callus cells. Researchers also noticed the activity of endogenous hormones and protective enzymes has been enhanced.
• The same sound waves also increased sugar and soluble protein contents.

Sound waves of 0.1 to 1 kHz and 65-75 dB played for 3 hours every 2 days from a distance of 30 to 60 meters (98.5 to 197 feet):

Significantly increased yield, as follows:

• Cucumber by 37.1%.
• Sweet pepper by 30.5%.
• Cotton by 22.7%.
• Lettuce by 19.6%.
• Spinach by 19.6%.
• Wheat by 17%.
• Tomato by 13.2%.
• Rice by 11.4%.

Strengthened plants’ immune systems and decreased the incidence of pests and diseases as follows:

• Sheath blight of rice by 50%.
• Late blight by 11%.
• Gray mold by 9%.
• Aphids by 8%.
• Virus disease in tomatoes by 8%.
• Spider mites by 6%.

Dr. Singh worked at Annamalai University as head of the Botany Department in 1962 when he decided to test the effect of music on plants.

He used balsam plants (Impatiens glandulifera) and initially chose classical music; later on, he tried out  raga music played on different instruments (flute, violin, harmonium, and Reena, an Indian instrument Google knows absolutely nothing about from the looks of it). He later repeated the experiment with local field crops using gramophones and loudspeakers.

• Balsam plants grow 20% faster in height and 72% in biomass when listening to music.
• Crop height and overall size increased from 25% to 60%.
• The violin was the most effective in boosting growth among all instruments he tried out.

Sir Bose, a famous polymath (physicist, biologist, biophysicist, botanist, archaeologist), spent his life studying how plants respond to environmental variables. Naturally, his research also touched upon the effect of music on plants.

• Plants are, indeed, sensitive to sounds and generally grow better when exposed to them.
• Plants also react to the attitude with which they are nurtured.

You can review the complete documentation of these extensive studies in  Response in the Living and Non-Living  (1902) and  The Nervous Mechanism of Plants  (1926).

Therefore, it’s safe to assume there is a scientific basis for the effect of music on plant growth. Now, let’s see how some of the most popular indoor plants are affected by music!

The Best Music for Plants: Experiment Plan

Start date: February 15, 2019

End date: March 15, 2019

Okay, so all the research we found online got us really hyped – according to what we’ve read so far, sound definitely has an impact on growth. But can it really make or break even the toughest of houseplants ? That’s what we wanted to find out!

We’ve got three groups, each comprised of six plants in very similar developmental stages:

Two of the groups were exposed to heavy metal and classical music 4 hours per day during maximum light exposure, meaning anytime between 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

The Plants We Chose

Asplenium nidus   (bird’s nest fern).

• Bright, indirect light
• High air humidity
• Permanently moist soil

Fittonia Albivenis  (Nerve Plant)

• Medium to high air humidity
• Moderate watering

Maranta Leuconeura   (Prayer Plant)

Epipremnum Aureum   (Golden Pothos)

• Shade to full sun
• Low to high air humidity

Crassula Ovata  (Jade Tree)

• Bright, indirect light to full sun
• Low to medium air humidity
• Reduced watering

If you want to learn more about growing and caring for the Jade tree, read our Jade Plant Care Guide and enjoy this wonderful succulent at home or in the office!

Echinocactus Grusonii   (Barrel Cactus)

Growing this cactus is a rewarding experience with or without music. While sturdy and not at all pretentious, you cannot consider this plant unkillable. For this reason, we encourage you to check out our guide on how to care for succulents and cacti  and offer your gorgeous houseplants the best maintenance methods for their thriving!

The Music for Plants that We Chose

For this experiment on plants and music, we tried to answer two of the most frequently asked questions coming from plant and music lovers:

• Does classical music for plants sustain their growth?

Is rock music bad for plants?

Moreover, we’ve curated the following playlists for our angry outcasts and fancy groups:

ROCK PLAYLIST

CLASSICAL PLAYLIST

I used  Spek to analyze the frequency and volume of the music to make sure it doesn’t reach unhealthy levels for our plants.

The Experimental Setup

This took us a while to figure out as the three groups of plants need to have identical or very similar environments.

We’ve ultimately decided to isolate the three groups using three glass showcases and set them up in a 3rd-floor office, with a North-East facing window. Humidity levels were low and, obviously, there were no cold drafts to affect them.

I’ve repotted the aspleniums, fittonias, marantas, and epipremnums on February 11th (4 days before starting the experiment) and placed them in their showcases to give them some time to get accustomed to their new environments. The jade trees and the cacti can handle another few months in their current pots, so I’ve postponed their repotting for a bit.

I used Pokon  potting soil  and  clay pellets  for drainage. I chose  Santino pots because I’m pretty happy with how my own houseplants behave after potting them in such planters.

However, if you want to repeat the experiment or simply get high-quality soil and containers for your houseplants, feel free to check out our guides on the best potting soil products available on the market, and the best self-watering pots and planters  for your lovely indoor plants!

Plants’ Care

Watering the Aspleniums, Fittonias, Marantas, and Epipremnums once per week has proven optimal so far. I estimate the jade trees and cacti will need watering once every 2 to 4 weeks.

Measuring Progress

We have measured the following aspects once a week:

• Plant height
• Lost leaves
• Number of plant babies

So, Does Music Help Plants Grow After All?

The short answer is yes – but it really depends on the type of music and the plants, too!

Check out the weekly progress of our experiment on the effect of music on plant growth or scroll down to see our findings after the whole experiment:

The Effect of Rock Music on Plant Growth

The effects of rock music are overall better than I initially expected – even though most plants preferred classical music, most of our angry outcasts did better than their brothers and sisters in the control group. The only exception to this was the Asplenium which, surprisingly, grew much better in complete silence.

So, is rock music bad for plants? NO! On the contrary, it helps your plants grow better! But let’s get into some details!

• The Asplenium listening to rock music started with 78 leaves and ended up with 81 leaves total, way lower than the growth registered by the Asplenium in the control group (25 extra leaves), and the one in the classical music group (16 extra leaves). Therefore, according to our Aspleniums, silence is the best music for plants.

• The Fittonia in the rock music group ended up with 12 extra leaves and 1.5 inches in height – way better than the control group which only gained 4 new leaves and 1 inch in height during this month. However, it doesn’t stand a chance to the one listening to classical music which grew a whopping 16 new leaves!

• The Epipremnum that listened to rock music registered the most progress – 6 new leaves and 1.5 extra inches on its longest stem. If it were only up to our pothos plants, we’d declare rock as the best music for plants!

• Marantas gave us a textbook example of how music helps plants grow no matter the type – the one listening to rock music unfurled 5 new leaves during this past month and its longest stem grew 1 inch in length. This progress is similar to the one registered by the prayer plant listening to classical music but way better than the one in the control group.

• The jade tree listening to rock music is doing the worst of all – it only has one extra leaf and, although it tried to grow more new ones, they were dropping like crazy during the last two weeks of our experiment. In case you wonder why your succulent leaves are falling off for no apparent reason, be mindful of the music you listen to while you are in the same room with them. You never know what discoveries you could make!

• The cactus in the rock music group shows the same progress as the one in the classical music group. The one in the control group stagnated.

Major Takeaways

Some plants may like rock music while others may not. For instance, pothos seems to genuinely enjoy rock music and thrive, while our jade tree showed clear signs of wishing to steer clear of this music genre.

But despite being so mixed, the results are much more encouraging than those of other similar experiments, in which plants reportedly died after being exposed to too much rock music (3 hours or more) or literally grew away from the speakers.

In our experiment, most of our plants grew (slightly) faster while listening to rock music than their peers in the control group, but in some cases, they did not fare as well as those in the classical music group.

All in all, nearly all our plants seem to enjoy some music than no music at all, a conclusion in line with the findings of MythBusters during the ‘Exploding House’ episode.

The Effect of Classical Music on Plant Growth

Overall, our experiment confirms yet again that classical music is the best music for plant growth. Even though there have been some ups and downs for some of the plants listening to classical music, their evolution has been the most consistent and noteworthy.

Nevertheless, it’s important to note that rock music is not as harmful as previously thought – in fact, in many cases, the plants listening to rock music did way better than the ones in the control group.

• The Bird’s nest fern listening to classical music is doing better than the one listening to rock music but doesn’t stand a chance to the one in the control group, which is simply thriving.
• The Fittonias prove that classical music is the best music for plant growth – the one in the fancy group grew 16 new leaves and 1.2 inches in height, while the one in the control group only popped up 4 new leaves and grew 1 inch in height.
• The Epipremnum listening to classical music grew 1.5 inches in height and popped up 4 new leaves. This doesn’t hold a chance when compared to the one in the rock music group but it’s still better than the one in the control group.
• Our Prayer Plants are giving us textbook results – the one listening to classical music popped up 6 new leaves and grew 1.5 inches in length over the last month, a bit better than the one in the rock music group and way better than the control plant.
• The Jade tree listening to classical music is doing a bit better than the one in the rock music group with 0.3 extra inches in height and 6 new leaves but still can’t compare to the one in the control group (0.5 extra inches and 8 new leaves).
• The cactus listening to classical music registered the same growth as the one in the rock music group; the one in the control group stagnated.

Major Takeaway

Classical music for plants is hands-down a much better music alternative for plants than rock music, as our small-scale experiment has shown. So, if you want bushier and happier houseplants Bach, Beethoven, or Schubert need to be your weapons of choice.

Best Music for Plants: Results and FAQs

Before we deliver the conclusion of our experiment, let’s see a short round-up of the results while answering some of the most frequently asked questions coming from our readers.

Do plants grow better with music?

Yes. As strange as it may seem, plants do thrive in the presence of music. As you have seen above, it depends on the types of plants you grow and the music you are offering, but as an overall result, sound waves and vibrations have an impact on plant growth.

What is the best music to play for plants?

Our experiment showed that some plants grow better with classical music, while others enjoy classical music. As other experiments and studies showed (we mentioned them already and we give you a bibliography at the end of the article for more references), the best music for plants revolves around string instruments. Research shows that jazz, heavy metal, ragas, and Indian classical music encourage plant growth, the yield of leaves and fruits, and more.

Despite myths, rock music is not bad for plants. As you have seen above, pothos is a true rock fan. It seems that some plants enjoy heavy metal and we would be very curious to learn about other plant experiments involving rock subgenres.

Does classical music for plants help them grow?

It seems so. Classical music appears to be the best music for plants to grow and thrive in your home. Now, keep in mind that classical music is not everybody’s cup of tea, so if you plan to listen to some masterpieces while watching your plants grow, make sure you choose something you also enjoy. As we said above, the preferred instruments are the string ones, but if you play piano music to your houseplants and you get significant results, we want to hear about them!

What other experiments for plant growth can you conduct?

If you ever wondered what affects plant growth and you want to perform some experiments on your houseplants ( that are hard to kill , otherwise we don’t recommend any), check out our experiment on the influence of negative words on plant growth . It would mean using some swear words, but we believe you will get surprised by the results. You may learn, as we did, that negative discourse intended to instigate resentment and hostility affects plant growth rate so it would be better to refrain from this experiment if you love your plants and you don’t want to bully them into withering.

Even though both classical and rock music stimulates plant growth and health, the winner seems to be classical music due to the speedy growth it has promoted in most plants. Nevertheless, the plants listening to rock music had the smallest incidence of yellowing, browning, or dry leaves, which might mean that rock music offers a steadier and healthier, albeit slower growth than classical music does.

More Sources & Studies on Music and Plant Growth

• Advances in Effects of Sound Waves on Plants,  Reda HE Hassanien, Tian-Zhen HOU, Yu-Feng LI, Bao-Ming LI,  Science Direct
• Effect of Different Types of Music on Rosa Chinensis Plants,  Vidya Chivukula and Shivaraman Ramaswamy,  Semantic Scholar
• Does Music Affect Plant Growth? Explore the Untold Truth , Medha Godbole,  Gardenerdy
• Studies Regarding the Influence of Music on the Wheat Plants Growth,  Mihai Adrian Rachieru, Irina Iacob, Maria Cristea,  University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest  
• The Effect of Music on Plant Growth and Pests,  Sanjay Sharma,  Owlcation  
• Effects of Musical Sound on the Germination of Seeds,  Katherine Creath,  University of Arizona  
• The Myth of Absolute Science,  Linda Chalker-Scott,  Washington State University  
• The Effect of Music on Plant Growth,  Mazlan,  DenGarden  
• Music And Plant Growth: Learn The Effects Of Music On Plant Growth , Mary H. Dyer,  Gardening Know How  
• Influence of Music on Plants,  D. Kroeze,  Canna Gardening
• The Story of How Jagdish Chandra Bose Proved Plants Have Life,  Sanchari Pal,  The Better India
• Effect of Music on Plants – An Overview,  Anindita Roy Chowdhury and Anshu Gupta,  Research Gate  
• The Pseudoscientific World of Plant Music,  author unlisted,  Duke University  

Read Our Week-by-Week Music for Plants Experiment Progress

Classical and Rock Music for Plant Growth – Week #1

Classical and Rock Music for Plant Growth – Week #2

Classical and Rock Music for Plant Growth – Week #3

Classical and Rock Music for Plant Growth – Week #4

Hi! My name is Florina and I’ve been a plant junkie for 4 years now. I love nature, hiking, reading, watching movies, and spending time with my friends and my cat. I’m also very enthusiastic about the World Wide Web – I think it’s an amazing source of info and a great channel for communication.

4 thoughts on “ Classical vs Rock Music for Plants to Grow: Plant Experiment ”

Hi Florina (I’m sure I’m not the first to say “what a great name for a plant person”)!

I saw something like this on Nova (PBS program) in the 70s. Always fascinated with it. May I post this to Facebook? I don’t see a link.

Thanks, and happy new year.

I’m amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s equally educative and engaging, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is an issue that not enough people are speaking intelligently about.

Now i’m very happy I found this in my hunt for something relating to this.

Hello. I’m not doubting that sound actually does affect plants. But I’m curious about the controls implemented in your test. Did you give a measure amount of water each time to each of the same plants at the same time? Were all the plants the same age? Did they listen to music at the same time as the other group? Did you move them to a separate room to play the music? Did you use the same volume each time and position the plants in the same spot and distance from the speakers? Ideally, it would be neat to see the effect of a solitary note played over a period of time to a handful of the same plants. Then a different note, or more than one note, play to another group? Then a melody of the same note with rests here and there….all of these at the same volume. Then another group with the same single note held at a greater volume……etc etc etc….as, I have a hunch it’s not the genre at all. But if it is the genre, what is it about the genre? I’m very curious to hear a reply back regarding the control measures that I started off with asking about. Thanks a bunch! Neat experiment! Oh also, it might also be worthwhile to start plants from seed with music, so we know that any reaction (positive or negative) isn’t due to anything experienced by the plant before the test began.

Your search is good. I think that mix (classic and other)music is not best for plant growth. Relativity of temperature and classic music and humidity is remarkable I will check it.

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permaculture | ecovillage | syntropic

Plant experiment: classical & rock music for plants growth, classical & rock music for plants: do plants like music.

FLORINA IONESCU

There’s plenty of research on this matter, with more or less consistent results. Some say classical music is the best music for plants, while others tend to agree any type will yield the same results as long as it’s within acceptable noise levels. We decided to put the many theories on the effect of music on plants growth to the test.

Therefore, we conducted our own experiment on our own greenery to find out what kind of music do plants like. Read on to see how we did it, what plants we used, and how we measured the impact of music on plants. You can also use the illustrated results below to check out our results:

Does Music Help Plants Grow? Here’s the Research:

It’s generally well-accepted that music affects plant growth and health and we also know why:

• Certain sound frequencies stimulate the movement of cytoplasm in the plants’ cells, which boosts metabolism and, therefore, growth.
• Sound also influences the opening and closing of stomata – the tiny pores that act like primitive lungs on plants. Music helps a stoma stay open for longer, thus taking in more air and growing faster.
• Some sound frequencies activate genes that speed up plant growth.

Further research on the type of music for plants and sound frequency concluded to the following results:

• Classical music  made plants grow better, bushier, and greener, with healthier stems.
• Jazz music  also accelerated growth and made plants fuller.
• Heavy metal music , together with new age and Celtic tunes increase both plant mass AND fruit taste.
• Country and western music  for plants had no effects on development.
• Noisy rock music  damages plants in the same way excess water or heavy winds do.

Previous Studies & Experiments on Music and Plant Growth

Here’s a short rundown of some previous experiments on the effects of music for plants:

These experiments have been conducted both on open field cultures and greenhouse plants using various levels of sound pressure and frequencies. Research was coordinated by Reda HE Hassanien, Tian-Zhen HOU, Yu-Feng LI, and Bao-Ming LI and findings were published in the  Journal of Integrative Agriculture .

Sound waves of 100 dB and 1 kHz played for one hour at a distance of 0.2 meters (7.8 inches):

• Sped up division and cell wall fluidity in callus cells. Researchers also noticed the activity of endogenous hormones and protective enzymes has been enhanced.
• The same sound waves also increased sugar and soluble protein contents.

Sound waves of 0.1 to 1 kHz and 65-75 dB played for 3 hours every 2 days from a distance of 30 to 60 meters (98.5 to 197 feet):

Significantly increased yield, as follows:

• Cucumber by 37.1%.
• Sweet pepper by 30.5%.
• Cotton by 22.7%.
• Lettuce by 19.6%.
• Spinach by 19.6%.
• Wheat by 17%.
• Tomato by 13.2%.
• Rice by 11.4%.

Strengthened plants’ immune systems and decreased the incidence of pests and diseases as follows:

• Sheath blight of rice by 50%.
• Late blight by 11%.
• Gray mold by 9%.
• Aphids by 8%.
• Virus disease in tomatoes by 8%.
• Spider mites by 6%.

Dr. Singh worked at Annamalai University as head of the Botany Department in 1962 when he decided to test the effect of music on plants.

He used balsam plants (Impatiens glandulifera) and initially chose classical music; later on, he tried out  raga music  played on different instruments (flute, violin, harmonium, and reena,  an Indian instrument Google knows absolutely nothing about from the looks of it ). He later repeated the experiment with local field crops using gramophones and loudspeakers.

• Balsam plants grow 20% faster in height and 72% in biomass when listening to music.
• Crop height and overall size increased with 25% to 60%.
• Violin was the most effective in boosting growth among all instruments he tried out.

Sir Bose, famous polymath (physicist, biologist, biophysicist, botanist, archaeologist), spend his life studying how plants respond to environmental variables. Naturally, his research also touched upon the effect of music on plants.

• Plants are, indeed, sensitive to sounds and generally grow better when exposed to them.
• Plants also react to the attitude with which they are nurtured.

You can review the complete documentation of these extensive studies in  Response in the Living and Non-Living  (1902) and  The Nervous Mechanism of Plants  (1926).

Therefore, it’s safe to assume there is a scientific basis to the effect of music on plant growth. Now, let’s see how some of the most popular indoor plants are affected by music!

Music and Plant Growth: Experiment Plan

Start date : February 15, 2019

End date : March 15, 2019

Okay, so all the research we found online got us really hyped – according to what we’ve read so far, sound definitely has an impact on growth. But can it really make or break a houseplant? That’s what we want to find out!

We’ve got three groups, each comprised of six plants in very similar developmental stages:

Two of the groups will be exposed to heavy metal and classical music 4 hours per day during maximum light exposure, meaning anytime between 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM.

Asplenium Nidus   (Bird’s Nest Fern)

• Bright, indirect light
• High air humidity
• Permanently moist soil

Fittonia Albivenis  (Nerve Plant)

• Medium to high air humidity
• Moderate watering

Maranta Leuconeura   (Prayer Plant)

Epipremnum Aureum   (Golden Pothos)

• Shade to full sun
• Low to high air humidity

Crassula Ovata  (Jade Tree)

• Bright, indirect light to full sun
• Low to medium air humidity
• Reduced watering

Echinocactus Grusonii   (Barrel Cactus)

For this experiment on plants and music, we’ve curated the following playlists for our angry outcasts and fancy groups:

ROCK PLAYLIST

CLASSICAL PLAYLIST

I used  Spek to analyze the frequency and volume of the music to make sure it doesn’t reach unhealthy levels for our plants.

This took us a while to figure out as the three groups of plants need to have identical or very similar environments.

We’ve ultimately decided to isolate the three groups using three glass showcases and set them up in a 3rd-floor office, in a North-East facing window.

I used Pokon  potting soil  and  clay pellets  for drainage. I chose  Santino pots  because I’m pretty happy with how my own houseplants behave after potting them in such planters.

Watering the Aspleniums, Fittonias, Marantas, and Epipremnums once per week has proven optimal so far. I estimate the jade trees and cacti will need watering once every 2 to 4 weeks.

Measuring Progress

We’ll measure the following aspects once a week:

• Plant height
• Lost leaves
• Number of plant babies

So, Does Music Help Plants Grow After All?

Short answer is,  yes  – but it really depends on the type of music and the plants, too!

Check out the weekly progress of our experiment on the effect of music on plant growth here or scroll down to see our findings after the whole experiment:

The Effect of Rock Music on Plant Growth

The effects of rock music are overall better than I initially expected – even though most plants preferred classical music, most of our angry outcasts did better than their brothers and sisters in the control group. The only exception to this were the Aspleniums which, surprisingly, grew much better in complete silence.

• The Asplenium listening to rock music started off with 78 leaves and ended up with 81 leaves total, way lower than the growth registered by the Asplenium in the control group (25 extra leaves) and the one in the classical music group (16 extra leaves). Therefore, according to our Aspleniums, silence is the best music for plants.

• The Fittonia in the rock music group ended up with 12 extra leaves and 1.5 inches in height – way better than the control group which only gained 4 new leaves and 1 inch in height during this month. However, it doesn’t stand a chance to the one listening to classical music which grew a whopping 16 new leaves!

• The Epipremnum that listened to rock music registered the most progress – 6 new leaves and 1.5 extra inches on its longest stem. If it were only up to our pothos plants, we’d declare rock as the best music for plants!

• Marantas give us a textbook example of how music helps plants grow no matter the type – the one listening to rock music unfurled 5 new leaves during this past month and its longest stem grew 1 inch in length. This progress is similar to the one registered by the prayer plant listening to classical music but way better than the one in the control group.

• The jade tree listening to rock music is doing the worst of all – it only has one extra leaf and, although it tried to grow more new ones, they were dropping like crazy during the last two weeks of our experiment.

• The cactus in the rock music group shows the same progress as the one in the classical music group. The one in the control group stagnated.

The Effect of Classical Music on Plant Growth

Overall, our experiment confirms yet again that classical music is the best music for plant growth. Even though there have been some ups and downs for some of the plants listening to classical music, their evolution has been the most consistent and noteworthy.

Nevertheless, it’s important to note that rock music is not as harmful as previously thought – in fact, in many cases, the plants listening to rock music did way better than the ones in the control group.

• The bird’s nest fern listening to classical music is doing better than the one listening to rock music but doesn’t stand a chance to the one in the control group which is simply thriving.
• The Fittonias prove that classical music is the best music for plant growth – the one in the fancy group grew 16 new leaves and 1.2 inches in height, while the one in the control group only popped up 4 new leaves and grew 1 inch in height.
• The Epipremnum listening to classical music grew 1.5 inches in height and popped up 4 new leaves. This doesn’t hold a chance when compared to the one in the rock music group but it’s still better than the one in the control group.
• Our prayer plants are giving us textbook results – the one listening to classical music popped up 6 new leaves and grew 1.5 inches in length over the last month, a bit better than the one in the rock music group and way better than the control plant.
• The jade tree listening to classical music is doing a bit better than the one in the rock music group with 0.3 extra inches in height and 6 new leaves but still can’t compare to the one in the control group (0.5 extra inches and 8 new leaves).
• The cactus listening to classical music registered the same growth as the one in the rock music group; the one in the control group stagnated.

Even though both classical and rock music stimulate plant growth and health, the winner seems to be classical music due to the speedy growth it promoted in most of the plants. Nevertheless, the plants listening to rock music had the smallest incidence of yellowing, browning, or dry leaves, which might mean that rock music offers a steadier and healthier, albeit slower growth than classical music does.

More Sources & Studies on Music and Plant Growth:

• Advances in Effects of Sound Waves on Plants,  Reda HE Hassanien, Tian-Zhen HOU, Yu-Feng LI, Bao-Ming LI,  Science Direct
• Effect of Different Types of Music on Rosa Chinensis Plants,  Vidya Chivukula and Shivaraman Ramaswamy,  Semantic Scholar
• Does Music Affect Plant Growth? Explore the Untold Truth , Medha Godbole,  Gardenerdy
• Studies Regarding the Influence of Music on the Wheat Plants Growth,  Mihai Adrian Rachieru, Irina Iacob, Maria Cristea,  University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest
• The Effect of Music on Plant Growth and Pests,  Sanjay Sharma,  Owlcation
• Effects of Musical Sound on the Germination of Seeds,  Katherine Creath,  University of Arizona
• The Myth of Absolute Science,  Linda Chalker-Scott,  Washington State University  
• The Effect of Music on Plant Growth,  Mazlan,  DenGarden
• Music And Plant Growth: Learn The Effects Of Music On Plant Growth , Mary H. Dyer,  Gardening Know How
• Influence of Music on Plants,  D. Kroeze,  Canna Gardening
• The Story of How Jagdish Chandra Bose Proved Plants Have Life,  Sanchari Pal,  The Better India
• Effect of Music on Plants – An Overview,  Anindita Roy Chowdhury and Anshu Gupta,  Research Gate
• The Pseudoscientific World of Plant Music,  author unlisted,  Duke University  

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Should You Sing to Your Plants? Here's What the Science Says

Can plants enjoy music just as we do? And can listening to music help them develop? If so, maybe we're not so different as we seem. The possible correlation between exposure to music and the growth rate of plants is fascinating, and may perhaps allow for a new and deeper understanding about the living creatures surrounding us in our homes.

Music and plant growth has been a topic in the scientific community for quite some time. At Pistils, we found ourselves curious to find out what these studies show and what the people conducting them are saying about how music affects plants. As we started digging in to the research, we found that experiments involving music and plant growth in agriculture as well as in greenhouses have been conducted and seem to show that playing music actually promotes the growth of plants!

But it's not quite so simple, and there's still a bit of controversy around these findings. Here's a bit of what the studies say, simplified, and why some may disagree.

Music and Plant Growth

The science.

Unlike us humans, plants don’t have ears with which to hear sound. So how are they influenced by music? It’s not exactly that they are tapping their roots to the beat of a drum. Rather, sound waves stimulate the plant's cells. When the cells are stimulated by the sound, nutrients are encouraged to move throughout the plant body, promoting new growth and strengthening their immune systems.

Believe it or not, studies indicate that plants also seem have a specific taste in music! Some genres of music promote growth, whereas others can be damaging. Roses in particular seem to love violin music. For most plants playing classical or jazz music caused growth to increase, while harsher metal music induced stress. This may be because the vibrations of metal music are too intense for plants and stimulate cells a little too much.

We think of this like massaging your plant with a song – they prefer a gentler touch. 

What Botanists Have to Say

Devendra Vanol of the Institute of Integrated Study and Research in Biotechnology and Allied Sciences in India found that not only does music promote plant growth, but it seems that plants can actually distinguish between different types of sound including different genres of music, nature sounds, and traffic noise. Vanol and her team say it could be advantageous for plants to distinguish sounds to learn about their surrounding environment. More studies need to be done to understand how this works and what this could teach us about plants.

According to Reda Hassanien of China Agricultural University in Beijing, sound waves significantly increased the yield of sweet pepper, cucumber, tomato, spinach, cotton, rice, and wheat. Additionally, pests such as spider mites, aphids, gray mold, late blight, and virus diseases of tomatoes decreased in greenhouse conditions with sound treatment. It is amazing what plants can do with a little bit of music playing in the greenhouse!

How can we use this new information? “The world population increase presents a challenge to scientists and researchers to investigate the possibilities for utilizing new and green technologies to increase the production of food," says Hassenien." Using sound waves technology can enhance the plant immune system thereby; avoiding many problems associated with the environmental pollution and the economic costs of chemical fertilizers and herbicide” (Hassanien 2014).

What if we could use music to promote plant growth instead of chemicals? Playing music for our agricultural crops could be the soothing sound of positive change in our food system.

Others believe that more research needs to be done in order to agree to establish a connection between music and plant growth. They say that plants in these studies are given special treatment, and further experiments need to be repeated with stricter control over growing conditions such as light, soil, and water.

Whether or not music promotes plant growth, we think that it couldn't hurt to play them a little jazz now and again, and some scientists and farmers around the world say it just might help them grow a little faster. So why not try putting on a soothing record the next time you water your plants?

We may not know for certain if music effects plant growth but one thing that is for sure is that treating your plants like the amazing living creatures that they are can help our green friends to be happier and healthier. Build a relationship with your house plants by talking to them with words of encouragement, give them a name, play them a song, love them and they will grow.

For the plant nerds among us that would like to dig deeper into the studies surrounding music and plant growth here are some free articles we recommend taking a peek at:

• https://scholar.cu.edu.eg/sites/default/files/redagreen/files/advances_in_effects_of_sound_waves_on_plants.pdf
• https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f3ef/50e5de86c302c09e2d1b11f0d3295143182b.pdf
• http://aribas.edu.in/quest/2014/issue3/3.pdf

By: Brittany Oxford

This is AMAZING to me and I want to believe it. so I’m going to try it. I just happened upon this information. I think I was meant to find it.

This was very helpful! thank you! I believe that music does help plants :).

Music is vibration, vibration does not become music until it is processed by a conscious subject. Probably for plants vibration is simply vibration, and enjoys it for what it is, stimulus. Plants are stimulated by photons, the wind, moister, predators ,pollenators, fungi and who the hell knows what else. Don’t let the judgment of other blind you to wonder, it can be mind-numbing.

This has been thoroughly debunked. Any type of noise seems to produce similar results, be it any type of music including rock, punk, metal etc as well as other noise sources.

It sure was nice when you said that play plants a song and talking to them could encourage their growth. This sounds really interesting to me since I am planning to grow some plants at home. It could be ideal to find folk and rock songs that I can play at home. https://maryannsmusic.com/

I am frantic at the moment I ordered two lovely 4” staghorns ; they were tender and all green when they arrived but were pitted in soil when they came but this was a problem for me a I Wanted to place them( without pits or soul) onto the branches of a curly willow branch I display in my home. So I removed most o the soil wrapped roots in some burlap to suspend in my tree, I had to squeeze and manipulate the root ball trying t accomplish thus Sadly the little green fern is all wilted and drooping even though I misted and soaked the burlap before trying to place it in my branch! Have I killed it? What can or should I do or is it too late( theses staghorns are not the moose head or elk horn variety. Any advice really appreciated// am feeling like a murdress!

My husband often makes fun of me when he hears me give kind words to my plants as I water them. What living thing doesn’t benefit from love and kindness?

I first heard about this in the 1970’s while I studying horticulture, I read “The Secret Life of Plants”. It changed the way I view them. This also suggested they respond to our energy as well.

What a great article! Another reason to believe this life is not just a product of chance but of thoughtful and creative design.

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Science project, do plants respond to music.

Grade level: 6h to 8th; Type: Botany/Music

This project determines whether music affects the growth and health of plants.

Research Question:

• Do plants respond positively or negatively to music, or not at all?

People enjoy different types of music, and animals also respond to it. Do plants like music? The purpose of this study is to observe, whether exposure to classical music will affect the growth and health of plants.

• Classical music
• 2-4 plants of the same type, health and age
• An environment ideal to that type of plant

Experimental Procedure:

• Place all plants in the same type of environment in terms of sunlight, temperature, water and soil.
• Expose one of the plants to two to three hours of classical music per day.
• Expose another plant to five to six hours of music per day.
• The other two plants are your control plants: they will be exposed to no music.
• Take pictures of each plant before the experiment. A picture can also be taken of all plants lined up next to each other.
• Take the same pictures after two, four and eight weeks.
• Note any visible and palpable differences between the plants that have been exposed to music and those that have not.
• If there is a difference between the plants with and without music, notice if there is a difference between the plants who were exposed to less and those exposed to more music.

Terms/Concepts: plant psychology, the effects of sound environment on plant life, botany, palpable

• "What are the effects of music on plants?" WikiAnswers , http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_effects_of_music_on_plants
• "How Do Plants React to Classical Music?" by Phillip Ginn, eHow , http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5421613_do-plants-react-classical-music.html

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All Science Fair Projects

1000 science fair projects with complete instructions.

Music and Plant Growth

Science fair project description.

Playing classical music beside the plant everyday will make it grow faster.

Music and plants The effect of music on plant growth is still a debatable subject among scientists and experts. Many experiments have been performed by both scientists and students to prove that plants can grow better and faster when they are provided with musical stimulation. Music actually consists of sound waves that travel through the air at varying frequencies and finally reaching our ear drums to be recognized as sound and music. When the plant is exposed to the same music, it also receives the same sound waves and could in fact be receiving some form of stimuli that we are yet able to understand. The experiments done by scientists have shown that some plants grew more quickly after being exposed to musical stimulation. Most scientists will agree that seeds that are exposed to music will actually be able to germinate faster. There are also those who are of the opinion that plants that are exposed to music may in fact be receiving better care and attention, and therefore grow more quickly. When someone speaks or sings to plants, they may possibly be supplying the plant with additional carbon dioxide that the plants will need to grow faster.

Scientific Terms

The materials required for this science fair project: - 1 packet of radish seeds - 2 plastic pots - Soil required for the 2 pots - A CD player - A classical music CD - tap water - Ruler (1 meter)

1. For this science fair project, the independent variable is the musical stimulation given to the plants. The dependent variable is the growth of the radish plants. This is determined by measuring the height of the 10 plants in each group and calculating their average height. The constants (control variables) are the amount of water used, the amount of sunlight received and the type of plants used. 2. The 2 pots are filled with the same amount of soil and labeled A and B respectively. Ten radish seeds are placed in each pot. (More than 10 radish seeds can be used in each pot in case some of the seeds do not germinate. Once they start to geminate, remove the unwanted plants from the pots). The radish seeds are placed at least 20mm away from each other in the same pot. 3. The pots are both placed where they are able to receive the same amount of sunlight every day. Both pots are also watered with the same amount of water, twice everyday. 4. The pot labeled A is placed beside the CD player for 3 hours everyday with classical music being played. At the same time, the pot labeled B is kept away from the musical sound. 5. The height of the plants is measured everyday and their average height is calculated and recorded in the table given below.  

It is observed that the average height and growth rate of the radish plants in pot A (the plants provided with music stimuli) are greater  than that of the plants in pot B. The seeds in pot A were also able to germinate a day earlier.

The chart below represents the results of our experiment.

The hypothesis holds true: playing classical music to plants makes them grow more quickly. Music is able to speed up seed germination and enhance plant growth. Although there may not be an available scientific explanation as to why music is able to enhance plant growth, the results are there for us to take advantage of. Music can be used in plant nurseries to speed-up seed germination and help us grow healthier plants.

Also consider

Try to repeat the science fair project using different types of music like jazz, pop, rock or country. The science project can also be modified by talking to the plants everyday.

Does music affect plant growth? - http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4596442_does-music-affect-plant-growth.html How music can help plant growth? - http://www.helium.com/items/989723-how-music-can-help-plant-growth?page=2

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Related Science Fair Project Ideas

The secret life of plant music

These two plants are part of the Data Garden Quartet , a collection of potted plants that wear special sensors to measure their conductivity — and turn it into music. Data Garden appeared at TED2019: Bigger Than Us, April 15–19, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED

Barreling through the high-visibility, high-tech exhibits on the TED2019 circuit, you’d be forgiven for mistaking The Data Garden for just another chillout zone, with its oasis of potted houseplants and people lying draped, spaced out, across bean bags. Yet an arresting sound beckons from this unassuming island – a soothing patter of gently percussive gongs, like a harmonious array of meditation bowls or a gamelan, with a variety of textures and tones.

Nothing unusual here – except that if you look closely, the plants have white sensors attached to the leaves, wired into speakers. Wait – is this music coming from the plants ?

Listen here >>

It is. “We’re listening to Data Garden Quartet – a quartet of plants all playing music together,” says Los Angeles-based sound artist Joe Patitucci. Each plant is fitted with a MIDI Sprout, a device invented by Patitucci and partner Jon Shapiro that translates plant biofeedback into sounds. The white sensors, it turns out, are electrical probes that send a 4.5 volt signal through the plant to measure variations in the plant’s conductivity, which changes according to the amount of water moving through it.

“It’s very similar to technology used in a lie detector,” says Patitucci. “If you imagine the wave in a lie-detector readout, we translate that into pitch in a musical scale. Changes in the waves also control various textural aspects of the sounds, or ‘instruments.’”

Patitucci conceived the idea of Data Garden Quartet in 2012 out of a sense of exploration as a musician. “I’d hear about people who could reached this flow state, where it was like universe was expressing itself through them. I was never able to get to that state – but I’d get my inspiration by going out into nature and bringing the feeling back into the studio and then composing.” So rather than making his body the channel – “instead of expressing itself through my body on my fingertips on a guitar” – Patitucci cut the middleman and wired his source of inspiration directly into the instrument, working with an engineer. Meanwhile, Patitucci designed the sound set – a palette from which the plant selects every single note in real time.

“Big influences are Brian Eno, generative ambient music in general, and the plant biofeedback experiments of the 1970s, and cellular automata – the mathematical principle that simple rule sets expressed over time can become complex systems,” says Patitucci.

The installation not only proved popular at festivals and museums, soon artists and musicians began demanding the hardware itself. In 2014, he and Shapiro launched a Kickstarter for a version of the hardware, which they dubbed MIDI Sprout, made specifically for artists, which plugs directly into a synthesizer so they can create their own sound sets. (Could I, for example, attach little samples of Prince songs to the plant’s dataset? “Prince Remix by DJ Plant,” Patitucci affirms.)

Inevitably, demand snowballed to ordinary consumers who wanted MIDI Sprout in their home – in their yoga class, meditation studios, and so on. For them, MIDI Sprout is now available as an iOS app with a custom-made sound palette that includes harp, flute, and bass. Now anyone can turn a houseplant into an ambient music generator.

In case you’re wondering, MIDI Sprout doesn’t only work on plants. You can hold the electrodes and get sonic feedback on your own biorhythms. “If you can really relax and have a steady pressure on the probes, you can get it to play one note,” says Patitucci. “You can even get it to stop. It takes some practice.”

As for the question I know is burning in readers’ minds: “Can I put a MIDI Sprout on my cat?” The answer is here .

Data Garden Quartet at TED2019: Bigger Than Us. April 15 – 19, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Marla Aufmuth / TED

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Let Your Plants Play Music, and Gardens of Sound Will Bloom

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In 2012, the artists Joe Patitucci and Alex Tyson set up a jungle's worth of tropical plants in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and invited them to perform. People filed in to stand and listen as the Data Garden Quartet, a botanical orchestra, gave its debut performance. On lead synth, a philodendron. A schefflera played bass, while a second schefflera managed the rhythm tone generator. A snake plant controlled ambiance and effects.

Patitucci and Tyson had fitted each of the plants with a small device that translated biofeedback into a sonic data. The device sat on a leaf, like a miniature stethoscope, and monitored the fluctuations of electrical conductivity on the leaf surface. That data fed into a program that turned those signals into controls for electronic instruments—as light graced a leaf, it might tilt the pitch, or change the rhythm. Data Garden Quartet performed four songs , all of them improvised. The music sounded like rolling waves—cool, ambient tones layered over electronic hums.

The Data Garden Quartet installation toured that year, performing in arboretums, festivals, and museum pop-ups. The music didn't just change based on the space—the dispersion of light, or a breeze through a window. The plant's electrical signals also seemed to change, sometimes dramatically, when a particular person entered or left a room. It was as if the plants were responding to an energy beyond the scope of human perception. For Patitucci, it inspired awe. He wanted to bring plant music to everyone.

Three years later, Patitucci teamed up with the experimental musician Jon Shapiro to extend the technology behind the Data Garden Quartet. Together, they invented the MIDI Sprout, a "biodata sonification device" that includes a pair of probes to attach to a plant's leaf. Among the small group of artists and musicians who began using it to control their electronic instruments, the MIDI Sprout was a hit. It launched on Kickstarter in 2014 and quickly surpassed its $25,000 funding goal. The device came out two years later; an iOS app followed in 2017, which made it possible to plug the MIDI Sprout directly into an iPhone.

Since then, a small but enthused community of plant musicians has formed. The Data Garden guys have seen all kinds of videos from people using the MIDI Sprout to make their plants sing. In one, a plant coos when a woman kisses its leaf. Another features a duet between a human performer and a greenhouse full of foliage.

"You hear the shifts that the plant is going through as its responding to its environment," Shapiro says. The best way to experience plant music, he says, is to listen over an extended period of time. "The dramatic change you might hear from morning to afternoon really clues you into just how active plants are."

Data Garden is now taking its vision even further with a new device. The PlantWave, which launched on Kickstarter this week, works much like the earlier devices—except that it is designed specifically for home use. The sensors sit on a plant's leaf and connect to a phone, tablet, or laptop using Bluetooth. Unlike the MIDI Sprout, there is no instrument cable necessary; Shapiro imagines people attaching it to their plants at home, or bringing it on a hike to listen to the plants they encounter out in nature. The idea, he says, is to bring botanical music to anyone with interest in plants.

The PlantWave costs $220 to preorder. For the casual plant owner, that may be too high a price to commune with the leaves. But a cottage industry is forming around houseplants, with delivery startups like Bloomscape and the Sill turning indoor horticulture into the trend du jour. An age of anxiety has led to a desire to deepen our relationship with nature. Monsteras and fiddle leaf figs are icons on Instagram. Imagine, then, a fiddle leaf fig that can sing .

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"The thing that's really interesting to think about is that plant matter is the most light-sensitive substance on the planet, because that's how plants eat. They are finely attuned to frequencies of light that we can't see, because the visible light spectrum is so small compared with the entire spectrum of light," Shapiro says. "We encourage people to think about what frequencies of light we are, as humans, emitting that a plant could pick up on that we may not be able to perceive directly."

For Shapiro and Patitucci, who are artists, the spontaneous sounds generated by the MIDI Sprout and the PlantWave contain questions about the relationship between humans and the world around them. It's a little woo-woo. Patitucci admits that he was inspired by experiments in "psychobotany" from the 1970s, which explored the potential of plant perception. A 1973 book, The Secret Life of Plants , even suggested that plants enjoy the lilting sounds of classical music.

That's pseudoscience. More recently, though some botanists and scientists have revisited the idea that plants do possess a kind of intelligence. There is little research to support the idea of "plant consciousness," or the idea that plants think like humans do. Plants can feel certain things, share nutrients in inventive ways, and recognize related plants. And while there are risks in anthropomorphizing the garden, surprising things do seem to happen in plant studies. The ways plants respond to their environments is "far more complex than most of us realized a few years ago," Ted Farmer, a botanist at University of Lausanne, told The New York Times last month.

The PlantWave is designed to give everyday people access to some of that magic, even if its source is misunderstood. Affixed to the leaf of a golden pothos, it can make someone feel more connected to the living, photosynthesizing thing in their own home. "The plant can actually switch between different instruments and turn dials the way a performer would," Shapiro says. That, he believes, can deepen the connection between person and plant.

The resulting compositions of the PlantWave are beautiful and eerie. The soft electronic tones call to mind the first experiments in plant music from the 1970s, when artists began projects like Mother Earth Plantasia , an album of "warm earth music for plants … and the people who love them." But the PlantWave isn't making music for plants. It's making music from plants, for people, in the hopes of fostering an appreciation that may one day help us understand more about the world around us.

Correction on 9/25/2019: An earlier version of this article misstated the year of the first Data Garden Quartet performance. It was 2012, not 2011.

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Playing Music For Plants – How Does Music Affect Plant Growth

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We’ve all heard that playing music for plants helps them grow faster. So, can music accelerate plant growth, or this just another urban legend? Can plants really hear sounds? Do they actually like music? Read on to learn what experts have to say about the effects of music on plant growth.

Can Music Accelerate Plant Growth?

Believe it or not, numerous studies have indicated that playing music for plants really does promote faster, healthier growth. In 1962, an Indian botanist conducted several experiments on music and plant growth. He found that certain plants grew an extra 20 percent in height when exposed to music, with a considerably greater growth in biomass. He found similar results for agricultural crops, such as peanuts , rice , and tobacco, when he played music through loudspeakers placed around the field. A Colorado greenhouse owner experimented with several types of plants and various genres of music. She determined that plants “listening” to rock music deteriorated quickly and died within a couple of weeks, while plants thrived when exposed to classical music. A researcher in Illinois was skeptical that plants respond positively to music, so he engaged in a few highly controlled greenhouse experiments. Surprisingly, he found that soy and corn plants exposed to music were thicker and greener with significantly larger yields. Researchers at a Canadian university discovered that harvest yields of wheat crops nearly doubled when exposed to high-frequency vibrations.

How Does Music Affect Plant Growth?

When it comes to understanding the effects of music on plant growth, it appears that it isn’t so much about the “sounds” of the music, but more to do with the vibrations created by the sound waves. In simple terms, the vibrations produce movement in the plant cells, which stimulates the plant to produce more nutrients. If plants don’t respond well to rock music, it isn’t because they “like” classical better. However, the vibrations produced by loud rock music create greater pressure that isn’t conducive to plant growth.

Music and Plant Growth: Another Point of View

Researchers at the University of California aren’t so quick to jump to conclusions about the effects of music on plant growth. They say that so far there is no conclusive scientific evidence that playing music for plants helps them grow, and that more scientific tests are needed with rigorous control over factors such as light, water, and soil composition. Interestingly, they suggest that plants exposed to music may thrive because they receive top-level care and special attention from their caretakers. Food for thought!

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Science Project Ideas

Does Music Affect Plant Growth

Though it is still a debatable topic, experiments conducted all over the world indicate that music can affect plant growth.  While soothing classical music, Beethoven, Brahms have been seen to help in stimulating growth, certain other music hindered their growth rate. Here is an experiment that can help you in the research and arrive at a conclusion.

How Does Music Affect Plant Growth: An Experiment

The pot having mustard seeds exposed to music germinates and grows faster than those without music.

• Packet of radish seeds
• 2 plastic pots
• Classical music CD
• 1-meter ruler
• The 2 pots are filled with the same amount of soil and labeled A and B.
• Maintaining a distance of 20 mm in between them, 10 radish seeds are placed in the soil of each pot.
• The pots are kept in such a place that they receive the same amount of sunlight every day.
• They are also watered equally twice every day.
• Pot A is placed beside the CD player playing classical music for 3 hours every day.
• Pot B is kept away from any source of sound.
• Their height is recorded every day for 15 days and tabulated.

It is seen that the plants under the effect of music record a greater increase in average height than the ones placed away from music. The relation between music and plant growth be studied better by plotting the no. of days as the independent variable on a graph paper and the average plant height as the dependent variable. You should have 2 different graphs for the data pertaining to plants growing with and without music on the same graph paper for a good comparative study. In fact, the absence of music does nothing to the normal growth rate.

You Can Also Try

• Check out the influence of rap, rock and heavy metal music on the growing plants.

Music Affecting Plant Growth Video

Possible explanation.

Music has been observed to improve the germination process and enhance growth in plants albeit without a proper scientific explanation. Plants, as such cannot hear sound, but they can feel the vibration of the sound waves in air. The living matter within plants, protoplasm, is in a state of perpetual motion. The sound vibrations add to it, speeding up the transfer of nutrients and resulting in faster growth. However, loud music like rock can be detrimental for development as they increase the vibrations to intolerable levels.

Get all the requisite background information before demonstrating the scope of music for an accelerated growth of plants at science fairs. Serve an eco-friendly purpose by using music therapy to promote healthy greenery in nurseries, gardens, etc.

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Plants that listen to music grow faster and healthier

Playing music for your plants may seem unusual, but now you may have a reason to. Scientists have discovered that music could help plants grow better and produce more food.

Acoustic farming

In what could be an unusual breakthrough in agriculture, researchers in China have discovered that music can significantly improve plant growth.

The study further establishes that plants that “listen” to music have been found to grow an impressive 10 percent more leaves, take in more sunlight, and produce more food. They call this groundbreaking concept “acoustic farming.”

Focus of the study

The research team from Tianjin Normal University , conducted extensive rounds of experiments with duckweed ( Lemna turionifera ). 

Duckweed or water lentils are perennial plants that float on or just underneath the water’s surface. They are usually found in slow-moving bodies of fresh water and wetlands.

The choice of duckweed was based on the plant’s protein and amino acid content richness. 

How the research was conducted 

For the experiment, scientists played the soothing sound of Bandri’s “The Purple Butterfly.” The plants were exposed to the soft music for a duration of five hours for seven consecutive days.

The researchers also maintained a 60-70 decibel sound level, equivalent to the loudness of a typical conversation.

What the researchers learned 

At the end of the experiment, the researchers compared the growth of the duckweed plants that listened to the music (musical plants) to those that did not (silent plants). 

The experts found that the music had considerable and immediate positive effects on the growth of the Duckweed plants. 

The musical plants performed better, recording about 10 percent higher leaf growth than the silent plants. The experts also found that the musical plants had significantly higher average protein content (8.89mg/g FW) than the silent plants (5.49 mg/g FW).

Improved photosynthesis 

The researchers observed that the duckweed exposed to the music processed light better. This prompted them to conclude that “music stimulation promoted photosynthesis by increasing the expression of photosynthesis-related genes with music treatment.”

Unknown mechanisms

Scientists have not yet determined the exact reasons for the positive impact of music on plant growth, but they uncovered a crucial clue. 

The sound vibrations from the music appeared to affect the functioning of the 1,298 genes in the plants. These include the genes controlling photosynthesis and hormonal regulation. 

“Our results provided reasonable evidence for elevated photosynthesis during music treatment. The results suggest music enhanced the ability to use light energy and provided new ideas for the research of plant acoustics,” the researchers noted.

Is acoustic farming the future?

The possibility of acoustic farming is fascinating. It could potentially revolutionize how we practice agriculture. However, this will depend on the success of future research to determine the exact mechanisms behind the observations in this study.

It may seem that King Charles saw the future when he admitted to talking to his plants during an interview in 1986. But unlike King Charles, we may have to do more than talking. 

Perhaps the right melody will help our plants do better and bring us more agricultural success.

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Does Music Affect Plant Growth?

Why Plant Intelligence is Real

Playing music for your plants may seem like a strange thing to do, but research suggests that any sound, including music, helps boost plant growth. Vibrations from sound waves seem to stimulate growth factors. In addition, sounds may not just impact growth; evolution may have given plants "ears" so they can hear warnings about predators.

Music and Growth

Research has shown that any sound has the ability to stimulate plant growth. In one study, plants that were exposed to sounds for six hours a day showed more growth than plants in a soundless control group. However, that same research showed that while music helped plants grow, it wasn't more effective than non-musical sounds. In other words, plants don't distinguish between music and other sounds. However, music does help plants grow

How Music Affects Growth

The exact cause of music's effect on plants is unclear. It is thought that plants may have "mechanoreceptors" that respond to pressure. Sound waves are made up of compressed air molecules. In humans, mechanoreceptors in the ears are able to detect and distinguish sound waves in the form of pressure as each wave strikes the inner ear. If plants have similar receptors, they too could respond to the changes in sound waves, such as those from music.

Plant Communication

Plants also seem to listen to the vibrations of one another. Plants that are near other plants tend to grow faster and healthier than those grown in isolation. Research suggests that plants may “talk” to one another via vibrations, and these communications let a plant know when it is safe to grow. Other research indicates that vibration from sounds such as music can turn genes on and off, indicating that plants may "listen" to their surroundings to know when to express certain genes. If scientists can gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, it is likely that sounds such as music could be used to promote growth.

Plant Defense

Other evolutionary considerations may have caused plants to develop the ability to sense sound waves. Studies indicate that plants can feel the vibrations of insects eating leaves, and that plants may communicate danger to other plants. The other plants then know to ready their defenses, or even stop growing until it is safe. There is also evidence that plants have evolved to respond to vibrations, such as those caused by the wind. When plants sense the constant vibration caused by the wind, they may know not to grow quite as tall. Being shorter may save them from being snapped or bent by strong winds. More research in this area may help scientists design sounds and music that help plants ward off or prepare for possible harm.

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About the Author

An avid lover of science and health, Meg Michelle began writing professionally about science and fitness in 2007. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Creighton University and master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins. Her work has appeared in publications such as EARTH Magazine.

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Music for Plants: How Music Can Impact Plant Growth

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Have you ever wondered whether your houseplants could benefit from a bit of music? The idea that playing music could impact plant growth has sparked intrigue and debate for decades. This blog post will dive into the world of music for plants. We’ll explore the science behind the concept, the ongoing debate, and how you can experiment with music for your houseplants.

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

• This article explores the power of music on plants and its potential to positively or negatively affect their growth.
• Studies have demonstrated that specific genres can promote plant growth, while rock/metal may be detrimental.
• Experimenting with different types of music for houseplants makes it possible to determine which type is best suited for their well-being, alongside natural soundscapes and proper care techniques.

The Power of Music on Plants

The concept of music influencing plant growth traces back to the 1970s, following the publication of “The Secret Life of Plants” by Christopher Bird and Peter Tompkins. Since then, numerous experiments and studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of playing music on plant growth. Some researchers found that classical music, in particular, positively impacts growth. Others observed the detrimental effects of rock music.

We will unfold the science behind music and plant growth, its impact on houseplants, the specific genres that may aid plant growth, and how plants grew in response to different types of music in this part.

The Science Behind Music and Plant Growth

The idea that music affects plant growth is founded on the premise that sound waves and vibrations can stimulate plant cells and nutrient movement. Studies have shown that certain types of music can positively impact growth and overall health. Dr. T.C. Singh, for example, found that exposing balsam plants to cl assical music increased their growth rate by 20% and biomass by 72% . This suggests that the vibrations created by sound waves could play a significant role in promoting growth.

Yet, not every music genre is equally beneficial for plants. Classical and jazz music have shown positive effects on plant growth . Rock and metal music’s intense vibrations can stress plants . Consequently, choosing the right music for your plants to promote growth-friendly vibrations is paramount.

Does Music Help Keep Houseplants Healthy?

Playing music for houseplants has been shown to have several potential benefits. These include increased growth rates and improved overall plant health. In one experiment, tomato plants in a greenhouse thrived when exposed to played music. They extend up the trellis and across the roof. This suggests that plants enjoy music. Providing a musical environment for houseplants could promote faster, healthier growth.

Yet, it’s worth mentioning that various music genres affect plant growth differently. Documented evidence shows a positive effect of Classical, Jazz, and Indian classical music. Conversely, the intense vibrations from rock and metal music might stress plants and potentially hinder growth. Hence, choosing the correct music genre is vital to enhance the potential benefits for your houseplants.

Genres That Boost HousePlant Growth and Promote Health

As mentioned earlier, specific genres of music are more beneficial for plant growth than others. Some examples include:

• Classical music , which has been repeatedly shown to promote growth in various experiments
• Jazz Music, such as ragas and Vedic music , has also been documented to facilitate lush growth in plants

However, it’s not all good news for plants regarding music. Experiments conducted by Dorothy Retallack revealed that plants exposed to rock music deteriorated quickly and perished within a few weeks. Likewise, metal music has been observed to induce stress in plants due to its intense vibrations.

Consider the genre, vibration, and volume when choosing music for your plants. This will ensure a positive effect on plant growth and health. By playing classical, jazz, or Indian classical music, you’re creating an environment that fosters their growth and overall well-being.

The Debate: Does Music Affect Plant Growth?

Despite the numerous studies and experiments suggesting a link between music and plant growth, the debate surrounding the subject remains ongoing. Some researchers have found positive effects of music on plant growth.  However, others remain skeptical and doubt the validity of these experiments.

This part will present the supporting evidence alongside skepticism, illuminating the continuous discourse about the effects of music on plant growth.

Positive Effects of Music on Indoor Plants

Several documented studies show the positive effects of music on indoor plants . These include increased growth rates, improved health, and potential chemical fertilizers and herbicide alternatives. An Illinois researcher experimented to determine music’s effect on corn and soy plants. The results revealed that both plants were thicker and greener, producing a significantly higher yield. The MythBusters experiment also showed that plants exposed to death metal music grew the best, followed by those exposed to classical music.

Researchers at a Canadian university conducted a study which determined that when exposed to high-frequency vibrations. The harvest yields of crops, such as wheat, nearly doubled. This finding is significant as it suggests new methods of improving agricultural production. These findings indicate that using sound waves technology in agriculture could provide an alternative to environmental contamination and the monetary costs of chemical fertilizers and herbicides.

Skepticism and Criticism

Despite the supporting evidence, skepticism and criticism of music’s effect on plant growth persist. Some researchers doubt the validity of experiments. They suggest that other factors, such as environmental conditions or vibrations caused by the music, may be responsible for observed results. The University of California , for instance, has stated that there is no conclusive scientific evidence to suggest that playing music for plants assists in their growth.

Furthermore, some botanists have criticized the experiments claiming to demonstrate music’s effect on plant growth. They label them as pseudoscience or deficient scientifically and unreplicable. Light and water, air pressure, and soil conditions are potential variables that might not have been adequately managed or accounted for in music and plant growth experiments.

Although the debate continues, it is worth noting that playing music for plants may not be detrimental. Some scientists and farmers have reported positive effects on growth rate. Further research is needed to establish a definitive connection between music and plant growth. However, experimenting with music for houseplants can be an enjoyable and potentially beneficial pursuit.

Experimenting with Music for Your Houseplants

If you’re intrigued by playing music for your houseplants, why not try? By experimenting with different genres and types of music, you can determine what works best for your plants and potentially enhance their growth and overall well-being.

This section will guide you in experimenting with music for your houseplants, including choosing the right music and monitoring the results.

Choosing the Right Music

Selecting the right music for your plants is crucial in ensuring a positive impact on their growth and health. As discussed earlier, classical and jazz music have been observed to be particularly beneficial for plant growth. Indian classical music, such as ragas and Vedic music, has also been documented to facilitate lush growth in plants.

Consider genre, vibration, instrumentation, volume, and duration when choosing music for your plants. Some recommendations include:

• Music with stringed instruments, which has proven effective
• A moderate volume for a few hours daily
• Experimenting with high-frequency vibrations or bird songs, known to stimulate photosynthesizing plants’ growth

Remember, not all music is suitable for plant growth. Heavy metal and rock music can induce stress due to their intense vibrations. Therefore, it is essential to carefully select the type of music for your plants to ensure the vibrations are conducive to their growth.

Monitoring and Measuring Results

Once you have selected the right music for your plants, it’s essential to monitor and measure the results of your experiment. Keep an eye on key indicators of healthy plant growth, such as:

• foliage color
• absence of pests and diseases
• proper watering conditions
• healthy roots

Observing these factors lets you determine if your plants thrived during the experiment.

There are several ways to measure the growth of plants . These include the grid intersect technique, measuring plant height, and calculating the average growth rate. Let the music play for at least 30 minutes before applying foliar fertilizer and discontinue it 2 hours later. By carefully monitoring and measuring your plants’ growth, you can determine the effectiveness of your music experiment and make any necessary adjustments to optimize their growth and health.

Alternative Ways to Promote Houseplant Growth

While playing music for your houseplants can be an enjoyable and potentially beneficial experiment, it is essential to remember that other factors significantly promote healthy growth. This section explores alternative methods to enhance houseplant growth. It focuses on natural soundscapes and correct plant care techniques.

Natural Soundscapes for Plant Growth

Natural soundscapes, such as bird songs and the rustling of leaves, are advantageous for plant growth as plants respond positively to these sounds. These sounds can create a sense of connection to nature and provide a soothing environment for them to thrive. Research has demonstrated that sound stimuli can influence germination rates. It enhances growth and development and improves the yield of crops.

You can incorporate nature sounds into your indoor environment by playing recordings of natural soundscapes. These include birds chirping, rustling leaves, or flowing water. Exposing your plants to these natural sounds can create a calming environment that may promote their growth and well-being.

Proper Plant Care Techniques

Proper plant care is crucial for promoting healthy plant growth and should be the primary focus when caring for your houseplants. Critical requirements for common houseplants include:

• Maintaining a minimum temperature of 55ºF
• Avoiding cold drafts
• Watering roughly once a week
• Checking soil moisture before watering
• Providing adequate light exposure
• Keeping tropical houseplants in rooms between 65 and 75 degrees F

In addition to these basic requirements, it is essential to provide your plants with the appropriate nutrients through regular fertilization. You can ensure their growth and overall health by giving them the proper care and attention they need, regardless of whether or not you choose to play music for them. Plants help create a soothing environment when you play music around them.

Video Credit: @EngineeringMadeEasy ​

Wrapping It Up

The relationship between music and plant growth remains a fascinating and debated topic. Some studies and experiments have suggested a positive impact of playing music on growth. Still, skepticism and criticism persist. Nevertheless, experimenting with music for your houseplants can be enjoyable and potentially beneficial. By carefully selecting the right music and monitoring the results, you can contribute to your plants’ growth and overall well-being. So, why not try it and see if your houseplants enjoy a little musical accompaniment?

What kind of music is best for plants?

Classical music and Jazz are generally the best genres for stimulating plant growth. Plants react positively to these softer genres with stringed instruments. Studies suggest they may even take in more air if exposed to these types of music.

Do plants grow well with music?

Scientific evidence shows that playing classical or jazz music to plants can lead to increased growth. Harsher metal music can cause stress. Plants seem to be sensitive to sound and respond well to gentler audio cues. This makes music a potentially beneficial factor in their growth. However, keep in mind that some music, including metal and rock music, stress them in a negative way.

What sound is healing for plants?

When choosing music for plants, carefully consider the genre. Classical Indian music and 432 Hz frequency have both been found to be beneficial for plants. They provide relaxation and promote their growth. Plants exposed to classical music show the most potential. In fact, such inspiring music affects growth in many studies.

How often should I play music for my houseplants?

Play music for your houseplants several hours a day until around 10 a.m. This will help them close their stomata during the heat of midday. However, if your days are cooler, you might continue playing throughout the day.

Are there any genres of music that should be avoided when playing music for plants?

While research indicates that playing music for plants seems to affect growth, heavy metal, and rock music positively should be avoided. Consider that when playing music for plants. Their intense vibrations can induce stress in them. Like every living thing, they respond to positives and negatives according to the noise and vibrations. The sounds of bird songs and wind might also be useful to encourage healthy plants. See if they respond positively and with similar results.

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The Plants That Make Music

Step inside the sprouting world of composers, coders, and other creators who use cutting-edge tech to help nature sing.

On June 22, Gran Teatre del Liceu, a concert hall in Barcelona, reopened its doors for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed them months earlier. A string quartet walked onto the stage, bowed, and proceeded to perform Puccini’s “Cristantemi” to a captive audience of almost 3,000, raptly sitting upright upon the hall’s red velvet seats.

But the Liceu didn’t skirt any rules by filling its seats with unsocially distanced classical music fans. Instead, the UceLi Quartet played for plants.

The concert hall’s artistic director and curator, Blanca de la Torre, envisioned the performance as both tribute to the healthcare professionals who worked on the frontlines—workers at a local hospital would receive the plants afterward—and as a commentary on our connection to nature.

The performance tapped into a deeper conversation that perceives plants as more than passive observers, but as living participants in our world that respond to music and even help create it.

Indeed, an ongoing musical community of scientists and shamans, coders and composers exists, one that shares a singularly uncommon pursuit: to make music with plants.

This subculture transforms plants into active participants in the musical process through the application of devices that translate a plant’s biological processes into sound. Plant music plays in healing centers, concert halls, public parks, and private homes. It joins piano duets, accompanies vocals, and takes center stage at art installations. While still knocking at the gates of the mainstream, plant music’s diverse and ardently supportive user base testifies to the global appeal of its foundational makeup.

Sophisticated Sounds and Remarkable Results

“Plants and music must be two of the most universally popular things,” Jon Shapiro, CTO of the biodata sonification company DataGarden , tells Popular Mechanics . Shapiro’s firm first explored the fertile intersection of music and plants with its original device, the MIDI Sprout , and now with its Kickstarter-funded PlantWave : a palm-sized device with a single cord that branches out into two sensors, stethoscope style, for latching onto the plant.

These sensors contain electrode probes, capable of gauging variations in electrical conductivity between the two plant points. A variety of biological processes can cause variations, Shapiro says, the most common one being water moved during photosynthesis. Light patterns, touch, sounds, and even the introduction of other living beings to a plant’s environment appear capable of affecting variations.

Once these sensors register a plant’s biological process, they send the resultant signal to a timer, which relies upon a microcontroller to measure the pulse created by the variations. When these pulses exceed a predetermined threshold value, the device will generate a MIDI note—and another, and another, and another, depending upon the level of conductivity and the device’s sonic parameters.

In the case of PlantWave, those parameters were determined by electronic musician and sound engineer Joe Patitucci, who saw the wealth of data produced by the plants as a chance for artistic expression.

“I was super into Brian Eno and generative music and things like cellular automata: simple rules expressed over time [that] create complex phenomena,” Patitucci tells Popular Mechanics .

While PlantWave is hardly the first device to source music from plants, the digital era provides an expanded capacity for advanced circuitry work, thus lending Patitucci greater sound design possibilities. In an evolved creative sandbox, Patitucci set about scaling all the incoming data to a set key and assigning them notes. He then provided multiple resolutions of that data by assigning instruments to different data sets, while also creating parameters for how frequently each instrument plays.

A bass note, for example, can play once per measure, while a mid-range piano is triggered more often. Patitucci configured this sonic palette with extended listening in mind. From circuit boards and electrical waves, dreamy ambient plant music emerges, awhirl with half melodies and synthesizer harmonies.

The device’s sophisticated sound design allows it to perform as a solo act. Yet musicians can also incorporate it as a unique effect (as is the case with Snoop Dogg’s cannabis plant samples), or allow it to fulfill the role of bandmate. However it’s featured, Patitucci cautions against interpreting the device’s musical output as a plant’s inherent, unheard song.

“Any idea that the note compares to the rhythm of the plant doesn’t add up, because it’s going off a human clock, which isn’t analogous to the plant’s process,” Patitucci says. As one user with a deep relationship to his plants remarked, “I love this product. [It’s] really cool. But it doesn’t sound like my plant.”

Instead of marking a scientific breakthrough, PlantWave stands an act of artistry that invites the users into a deeper conversation with the natural world.

Still, some device users insist they’ve achieved scientifically remarkable results. Patitucci relayed claims from MIDI Sprout users that they’ve trained their plants to come into key. At a plant music installation, attendees noted a sharp musical spike whenever energy workers, botanists, or florists entered the room.

While receiving a current and signal from a plant isn’t out of the ordinary—you can get a signal from things that aren’t even alive, says Richard Cahoon, an adjunct professor of Plant Biology at Cornell University—what is remarkable is that you would get variations.

“The scientist in me says, ‘I want to know more about these waveforms,’” Cahoon tells Popular Mechanics . “Forget about creating beautiful music. I’m interested in the waveforms themselves. What those patterns are, do they vary over time, and can we relate that to anything in particular: the diurnal pattern of the light, the temperature?”

“Because if that’s true,” Cahoon continues, “there is something really cool about this.”

The Connection of All Living Things

Bob Ezrin, who has produced hit albums for everyone from Pink Floyd to Nine Inch Nails, found himself toeing this same line between science and art, when visual artist T.M. Glass asked Ezrin to compose music for a gallery opening using a MIDI Sprout.

Ezrin, who was finishing Andrea Bocelli’s album at the time, hooked up the device to various flowers and plants. “I decided not to use the app,” Ezrin tells Popular Mechanics , because “I wanted to see what the raw output was without filters. I took the output of the box and went into my own synthesizer, put up a generic ‘Bob sound,’ and just watched. Listened and watched to see what was coming out of the various plants.”

“The lowly pansy, this pretty little purple plant standing next to these gigantic multi-colored plants—the output of that plant was really musical.” - Bob Ezrin

Two aspects of what he witnessed enthralled Ezrin. The first was the difference in output on the first day of setup, versus the second day.

“Their first day patterns were very random,” Ezrin says. “If you want to anthropomorphize the plant, they were maybe kind of panicky. By the second day, the patterns were regular and similar between plants. That was pretty remarkable. We didn’t change the position of the plants from day one to day two. We kept them in exactly the same place. We left the gear on.”

The only way Ezrin could explain such a dramatic difference, he says, was that the plants were “just getting comfortable with their new place.”

Ezrin took an especially liking to one plant. “The lowly pansy, this pretty little purple plant standing next to these gigantic multi-colored plants—the output of that plant was really musical.”

Ezrin played alongside the pansy, then sent the piece of music to T.M. Glass. “She was so inspired by it that she made a different film,” Ezrin says. This collaborative effort, dubbed Plantasia , showed at the gallery, a London photo show, and has appeared in documentaries.

Ezrin believes the device’s value lies not just in its musical innovation, but in its ability to awaken a deeper knowing.

“It’s a physical demonstration of the connection of all living things,” he says. “[Plants] are not just decorations that the earth happens to be smattered with. These are living creatures and they respond to us and we respond to them quite clearly. We have to understand that there’s a reason for that and in understanding that we have to be conscious that this is essential to our health and wellbeing. And the health and wellbeing of the planet.”

Spiritual and Artistic Exploration

The idea that plant music awakens a universal connection that inspires change runs throughout its community. Damanhur, a commune in Northern Italy that produced its own device called Music of the Plants , exemplifies the strongest expression of that message.

“I love to interact with plants in the same way I interact with persons,” says Aninga, a community member of Damanhur who has worked with Music of the Plants for three years. Every day she greets a plant outside her house that she’s appointed as leader. By greeting this plant, she symbolically greets all the other plants in the land. Aninga frequently connects her personal Music of the Plants device to the leader and listens.

“Sometimes it’s calm,” Aninga tells Popular Mechanics . “Sometimes it’s silent.”

This silence speaks to a fundamental philosophy of Damanhur. Like PlantWave, Music of the Plants connects to a plant through two sensors: one on a leaf, and another on the root. The electrical resistance between the leaf and the root of the plant is measured and translated into musical notes, but the designers deliberately created algorithms that aren’t activated by every biological process. By allowing for the possibility of silence, Music of the Plants grants the plants a choice: “because silence is also a way of communication.”

That silent space expresses Damanhur’s belief that plants are living beings with their own intelligence. Community members live, research, and create with this belief. They strive to create stronger connections between nature, medicine, and spirituality, using the Music of the Plants device acts as a tool for their research and art. Non-musical members can hear plant music daily in meditation, community events, or by attaching their personal device to plants.

Meanwhile, the community has several musical acts associated with it. The aptly dub ensemble Plants Dub released their album Acanthus Mollis last October. “They jam with the plants,” says Aninga, clarifying that all live songs are improvised, since the plants can’t be counted on to play the same note twice.

Japanese pianist Chiyo Kaigi brings plants onstage every show, and Master Plants Orchestra features the device as well. Last year, Damanhur organized an international festival at a park in Paris, where musicians jammed with plants for the delight of more than 400 attendees from both the community and public. The festival will occur again in August.

For plant music enthusiasts who prefer a DIY approach, the online forum Electricity for Progress lays out the fundamentals for making your own biodata sonification device. Sam Cusumano, who designed the original circuit board for PlantWave, created the open source forum to give back to the online community that aided his design.

“When building a new tool for electronic music, or a new device for creative and explorative users, we need a place to organize, store, and share our experiences,” Cusumano tells Popular Mechanics . “I took the opportunity to make a Biodata User support forum in hopes of building and fostering a community of users.”

Beyond sharing code and sound bytes, the forum fulfills a second function: to create space for deeper conversations about the device’s implications. “There are very many amazing questions which people ask when they see (and hear) these devices, big questions about perception and the nature of belief,” says Cusumano. “It has been one of the most humbling parts of this project for me.”

This sentiment echoes throughout the plant music community. It flips the script on plant music devices serving some scientific agenda, instead replacing it with a calling for greater spiritual and artistic exploration.

Indeed, a frequent cultural comparison for PlantWave and Music of the Plants is The Secret Life of Plants , a 1970s pseudoscience bestseller that made unprecedented claims about a plant’s sentience. But a more appropriate comparison might be Mort Garson’s Mother Earth’s Plantasia , a 1970s Moog synthesizer album written to encourage plant growth.

Devices used for creating plant music never aimed to prove anything. Rather, they stand as an interpreter between worlds, here to expand our notions of ourselves and our place on this planet.

To wit: One recent Sunday morning at this reporter’s local coffee shop, a girl with violet hair entered. Across the back of her denim jacket was an embroidered flower of the same hue. In her hands, she carried a sculpture: a purple pansy, its petals turned upward in a trumpet reminiscent of a 1920s gramophone.

Ezrin’s favorite flower and its quirky melody had visually manifested, in a moment as accidental and purposeful as the connections made between these device’s users and their metaphysical musings. While this casual synchronicity proves nothing, it perfectly aligns with the ethos of the biodata sonification communities: that we’re connected to an invisible world, constantly inviting us to tune in.

Elisia Guerena is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers tech, science, music, and other mediums that innovate and enhance our world. Her work has appeared in Popular Science, The Week Magazine, Paste Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and OkayAfrica, among others. 

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Music Features

The lessons to be learned from forcing plants to play music.

Sophie Haigney

What could you possibly have to learn from a houseplant? DEA / G. Cigolini/De Agostini via Getty Images hide caption

What could you possibly have to learn from a houseplant?

The music sounds, at first, like it belongs in a power yoga studio: electronic and rhythmic, rising and falling like breaths. But then a higher pitch juts into the mix, and the strains of sound diverge, becoming faster-paced and a bit more like electronic dance music. The rise and swell fluctuates, not entirely predictable. The artists at work are, ostensibly, plants: a philodendron, two schefflera and a snake plant.

Plant music is coming to you, or rather, it's there if you seek it out — and there are plenty of musicians these days waiting to be discovered. The indoor houseplant market is booming, especially among millennials. By one report, sales surged almost 50% , to $1.7 billion, between 2016 and 2019. Relatedly, there's been a surge in " plantfluencers ," social media stars at the intersection of horticulture, wellness and Instagram, curating photos of minimalist jungles in well-lit living rooms.

Now, through bio-sonification devices like Music of the Plants and PlantWave , plant enthusiasts can open channels of communication with their plants, conducted in the trending language of ambient noise . The plants can speak "ambient chill," it turns out. Er, right?

PlantWave grew out of a zero-waste record label called Data Garden , started by Joe Patitucci and Alex Tyson in 2011. Data Garden produced digital albums, partially distributed via download codes printed on artwork that was embedded with plantable flower seeds, as well as installations and interactive exhibitions that combined plants, music and technology. In 2012, an early iteration of PlantWave was born when the Philadelphia Museum of Art invited the label to do an installation at the museum. Data Garden worked with an engineer, Sam Cusumano, to develop a device that translated micro-conductivity on the surface of plants into a graph that could be used to control hardware and software synthesizers. The result was "Data Garden Quartet," featuring four harmonizing plants that played continuous music. After that, Patitucci and Tyson wanted to create a commercially available version for musicians and plant lovers; the first iteration sold out, and a new and improved model, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign , will be released in the near future.

Hear a bit of beach-based plantaphonia above.

The resulting plant music can be used in a variety of ways – musicians can mix it into their songs, yoga studios can put it on in the background of shavasana , art galleries can play it as installations. But Plantwave's primary mission with plant music is to foster an awareness of plants as living organisms. "I think some people are very aware that plants are sentient beings that are, arguably, making decisions for themselves and responding to their environment — but for a lot of people that's not something they think about every day," says Jon Shapiro, product development manager of Data Garden. "It does allow people, and it has allowed me, to look at other life forms and appreciate their aliveness in a different way."

But their aliveness isn't necessarily human, so saying that plants "play instruments" is more a figure of speech. "Plants don't sound like flutes," Shapiro says. The consumer version of the invention includes sensors that issue small signals through the plant, measuring variations in electrical resistance between two points within it. "The variation in the connection is largely related to how much water is between those two points, which changes a lot as the plant is moving water around while it's photosynthesizing," Shapiro said. "Then we graphed that change as a wave, and then we translate that wave into pitch, so then essentially we're getting a stream of all these pitch messages coming from the plant." The pitches then enter the device's software, which features different electronic instruments — the flute, harp, piano, guitar, bass and some synthesizers among them — that you can elect for the plants to "play," then scaling them to be harmonious. A symphony (of sorts), generated by algorithms and leaves.

Like people, not all plants are naturals. Some are too small or delicate to measure, and a large tree might only bring about a few notes — so it's ideal for the (millennial-preferred) healthy, glossy houseplant. And even so the sound will vary a lot, and not simply based on the species of plant. "Even within the same species, even within the same plant, depending on what two leaves you choose," Patitucci says, "the fluctuation between two points in the plant will be different within every single plant." "For me, one of the most exciting things about it is not about necessarily finding a specific signature sound from one plant, but to get familiar with what the patterns are with this plant." The music often shifts with changes in light, time of day, oxygen levels, and even in response to movements in the room, something Patitucci notices when he leads yoga and meditation classes to plant music.

So, have we found a way to commune with our plants, transcending species and genus? In a word, no. The sounds are human-generated, even if they're responding to internal changes in the plant. Though plants do make sounds — but not to communicate with us.

The sounds they make are responses to things in their environment or their internal workings--stuff moving around and processing inside of them. Frank Telewski, a plant biologist at Michigan State University, notes that plants make sounds related to plants make sounds related to external factors like wind, and also to "the cavitation in the hydraulic pathway resulting from tiny bubbles forming in the xylem. Neither of these sounds are made intentionally by the plant to communicate, but they can indicate something about the plant's structure or physiological status." He compared it to the noise your stomach makes when hungry — a message, but not communication in the way we think about it.

The Many Requirements Of Hold Music, A Genre For No One

Patitucci said that at Data Garden, they try to stay away from anthropomorphizing the plants too much. "I think that a lot of times when people think of plant music, when they first hear of it, they think, will it sound like death metal in this case or classical music in this other case? Will it tell you if it's mad at you or sad?" he said. "It's really important to understand that these are beings that are living in another dimension." This is a paradox of sorts about plant music: the imposition of a human scale and pitch allows us to be more aware that plants are living, but it might make us think they feel like us, even when they don't.

Still, as with a rumbling stomach, human-generated plant music can tell you something. When Patitucci was traveling in Thailand, he asked his roommate to water his plants. From a distance, he tuned in to listen to them—and one of them was playing the same note over and over. A few days later he checked in again and the same thing was happening. "I texted my roommate, 'how are the plants doing?' And he said, 'Oh they're doing great, really healthy' and I asked, 'Could you send me a photo?' And all the plants were really happy except that one plant, a peace lily, which needs a lot more water, and its leaves were drooping. So I could tell that, over a long period of time and from a distance, just by listening."

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music and plant growth

How does music affect plant growth?

Washington State University professor of horticulture Linda Chalker-Scott uses the example of a book on the effect of music on plants as an instance of ‘bad science’ in one of her articles . In other words, the idea is not based on repeated experiments, and has not been put to the test of attempts to prove or disprove it. Many student science fair projects pursue this question. There are many other scientists discussing this, and sites on the topic, too.

The TV show Mythbusters Episode 23 has dealt with this question.

There are also two questions exploring this at the MadSci network, a scientist-staffed question site. Here is an excerpt from the MadSci network’s discussion: Experiments on the effects of sound or music on plants are very difficult because you need a lot of replication (number of plants for each treatment) and identical environments for each treatment other than the music or sound level. That is difficult to achieve even for a professional botanist much less in a home or classroom. You also need a statistical analysis to determine if the growth differences are real or just due to natural variability. No botanist has yet found a beneficial effect of music or sound on plant growth that is reliably repeatable and statistically significant.

The idea that plants grew better with certain kinds of music apparently arose in the best selling book, ‘The Secret Life of Plants.’ That book was filled with incorrect information. Botanists have failed to find that plants grow better or worse with a particular type of music or that music has any effect on plants. While the stories in ‘The Secret Life of Plants’ are intriguing, they are not based on careful scientific experiments. For accurate scientific details on plants try a college botany textbook (Stern, 1991) or popular books on plants written by scientists (Attenborough, 1995; Wilkins, 1988).

Attenborough, D. 1995. The Private Life of Plants . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Stern, K.L. 1991. Introductory Plant Biology . Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown.

Wilkins, M. 1988. Plantwatching: How Plants Remember, Tell Time, Form Relationships and More . New York: Facts on File.

Professor Ross Koning, who teaches Plant Physiology at Eastern Connecticut State University has addressed this question at length , too. Here is an excerpt from that site (now archived), as well:

“If plants don’t have music appreciation, do they respond to sound? It is possible for a plant to respond to the vibrations accompanying sounds. A short bibliography at the bottom of this page gives you some references…but to almost ‘nothing to report.’ I emphasize again that while there ARE responses to sound/vibration in plants, there is NO controlled study published on the MUSICAL TASTES or MUSIC APPRECIATION by plants in reputable journals.

One plant that responds to sound-induced vibration is Mimosa pudica, also known as the ‘sensitive plant.’ Vibrations induce electrical signals across the leaflets of this plant, and cells at the base of the leaflets respond to these action potentials osmotically. This response results in a sharp change in the turgor pressure in these pulvinus cells, and that pressure change, in turn, results in the folding of the blade at the pulvinus. Another pulvinus at the base of the petiole may also respond if the vibration is severe enough. This kind of response is known as seismonasty.

How would this plant respond in terms of growth if its leaves were kept closed by constant vibration? If you think very long about photosynthesis in leaves as the driving force for growth, you will realize that continuous leaflet closure would inhibit rather than stimulate the growth of the plant. Indeed loud sounds (vibrations really) have been reported to negatively impact plant growth (reference below).”

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Plants' Response to Music: Boosting Plant Health and Growth

From classical symphonies to soothing sounds, learn how integrating music into your gardening practices can lead to healthier, more vibrant plants..

Friday November 10, 2023 , 2 min Read

The idea that plants can respond to music has been a topic of fascination and research for decades. While it may sound like a concept straight out of a fantasy novel, numerous studies suggest that musical vibrations can indeed influence plant growth. This article delves into the science behind this phenomenon, exploring how different types of music affect plant growth and the potential implications for agricultural practices and indoor gardening.

The Science Behind Music and Plant Growth

1. Vibrational Influence: Plants don't "hear" music the way humans do, but they can feel the vibrations created by sound waves. These vibrations can stimulate certain biological processes within the plants. Research has shown that sound frequencies, including those in music, can affect gene expression and cell movement in plants, potentially influencing their growth patterns.

2. Classical vs. Rock Music: Studies have often focused on the effects of classical music on plants, citing improved growth and faster blooming. Conversely, harsher music, like rock, has been associated with stunted growth and wilting in some studies. This suggests that the type of music and its associated vibrations play a role in how plants respond.

3. The Mozart Effect on Plants: Named after the famous “Mozart Effect” in humans, some studies have observed that plants exposed to Mozart's compositions show enhanced growth. This has led to speculation that the complexity and frequency of classical music like Mozart's might positively stimulate plant growth.

Implications for Agriculture and Gardening

1. Greenhouse Practices: Some commercial greenhouses have started to experiment with playing music to promote plant health and growth. This practice could potentially lead to healthier crops and higher yields.

2. Indoor Gardening: Houseplant enthusiasts might find that playing music for their plants not only benefits the plants but also creates a more harmonious and soothing environment for themselves.

3. Future Research: More scientific research is needed to fully understand the relationship between music and plant growth. This could open up new avenues for agricultural technology and practices that integrate sound therapy.

The notion that plants can grow better while listening to music is a fascinating blend of nature and art. While the idea warrants further scientific exploration, the existing evidence suggests a promising connection between musical vibrations and plant health. Whether it's classical symphonies or smooth jazz, giving your plants a musical companion might just be the secret ingredient to their growth and vitality.

• Plant Growth
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• agricultural science
• Music and Plants

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