Good news for gardeners! Scientists have uncovered a simple way to boost plant growth - and all you need is a speaker
Gardeners will try almost anything to help their plants grow.
From fancy compost to strict watering times or a regular pruning schedule, there are plenty of ways to give flowers a boost.
Some even resort to talking to their plants, convinced they 'respond to vibrations'.
But scientists have uncovered a simple way to promote growth – and all you need is a speaker.
Experts have found that playing music to plants can make them grow heavier and leafier.
However, picking the right playlist is of the utmost importance.
A study has found that classical music, such as Bach concertos, boost growth while plants exposed to rock music grow more poorly.
'Playing music to plants is not as crazy as it may sound at first,' Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford and co-author of the paper, told The Times.
The team suggest that a combination of sound frequencies, the tempo of the music and the instruments involved may have the power to stimulate or curb plant growth.
For the research, scientists analysed pak choi plants – a type of Chinese cabbage – that were played rock music, classical music or no music at all in bursts throughout the day.
The classical selection was Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, considered masterful examples of balance between assorted groups of soloists and a small orchestra.
Instrumental rock and metal was used for the other musical group.
Everything else that could affect plant growth, such as temperature, humidity and lighting, was strictly controlled and kept the same for all plants in the study.
After a six-week study period, the researchers found that the plants played classical music ended up significantly larger, with an average dry weight of 8.99g.
Meanwhile those played no music weighed 6.33g on average, while plants played rock music weighed only 3.12g on average.
The pak choi that had been exposed to classical music also produced the highest number of leaves, with an average of almost 17 each compared with only 10 leaves for the plants that were played rock.
Pak choi
Also known as Chinese cabbage, pak choi is a leafy green vegetable.
It can be used as baby leaves in salads or as larger rosettes in a stir fry.
It can be grown in as little as four weeks.
The plant is in season all year round but prefers cool, damp conditions.
Analysis of the roots also showed that plants exposed to classical music had the highest total root volume, measuring 90 cubic centimetres – three times more than those played instrumental rock, which reached only 30 cubic centimetres.
The plants grown in silence, however, recorded total root volume of 77 cubic centimetres.
The team was led by plant scientists and music experts at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur and University Putra Malaysia.
They said there was 'promise' around the use of classical music to help stimulate plant growth.
'Classical music may have an effect on plant growth because plants are attuned to vibrations, such as the vibrations of running water in soil, and they react to them biologically,' Professor Spence added.
'Meanwhile the different frequencies in rock music may fall outside the sonic range which boosts plant growth.'
He also said that classical music might 'make gardening a more pleasant experience'.
Previous studies have also found that plants tend to grow in the direction of soothing music and away from rock music.
The findings were published in the journal Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture.
The scientists wrote: 'The results reveal that those plants exposed to classical music exhibited significant differences in shoot characteristics with the highest total fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, and mean leaf numbers.
'Meanwhile, those plants exposed to rock music demonstrated values that were the lowest across all plant parameters.
'Despite the promise around the use of classical music to help stimulate plant growth, further studies are undoubtedly still needed before any firm conclusions regarding the potential benefits of exposing plants to an acoustic stimulus can be drawn.'
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