You talk to your plants, but you dare not reveal this strange aspect of your private life because you fear that people could judge you? Like me, you can now make a coming out and expose your conversations with your plants with pride, since it seems that talking to them has beneficial effects on their growth.

However, can plants perceive our mood when we talk to them and could they be affected by the nature of our words. A few years ago the team members of the Myth Busters show, broadcasted on Discovery Channel, conducted a very serious scientific study on the subject. They bought 60 pea plants and placed them in three different greenhouses. Then, they recorded two soundtracks: one consisting of loving and caring words, and the other comprising cruel insults. Each of these recordings was then played in one of the two greenhouses. The third greenhouse was the control, since no recording was broadcast there.

After 60 days, the results were compiled by the team. To their surprise, it was in the silent greenhouse that were measured the lower growth and the smaller biomass production. The fruits produced by these plants were also smaller than those of the other two greenhouses. Another amazing fact : the results of the two greenhouses where recordings were played showed no difference. Pea plants have shown higher growth and development, no matter if the voice was positive or negative.

Some other scientific studies take this idea a step further and show that plants can not only be stimulated by noise, but they can also produce sounds. If a bacteria can communicate with others by emitting vibrations, why not plants, said Monica Gagliano, a physiologist at the University of Western Australia. Mrs. Gagliano and his colleagues have recently shown that corn seedlings roots direct their growth towards the source of a 220 Hertz vibration and they emit a noise at a similar frequency. Simply fascinating...

As plants seem to respond positively to the sound of human voice, is it possible that they appreciate our presence? Do they like us ? Do they know that we take good care of them with so much love? I like to believe so. Anyway, I still hope that one of my plants answer me one day...