Whether you're a keen gardener or plant enthusiast (or none of the above), you've probably heard the old tale that talking to your plants will help them grow. Well there is some truth to this as research has shown that plants respond to the vibrations of speech and song, as much as they do to things like water or light.
But if plants like being talked to by us then how do we know that they're not actually communicating amongst themselves already? To discuss whether plants really can talk to one another, Anton Savage was joined by Dr. Ruth Freeman Director of Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland for this episode of Green Scene on The Pat Kenny Show.
"We are learning in recent years that plants communications are far more sophisticated than we thought," Dr. Freeman explains.
"We've known for years that plants respond to stimuli, like light, gravity, water, touch... And a recent study in 2019 showed that plants can even increase the level of sugar in their nectar when they are exposed to the sound of a bee buzzing or maybe produce chemicals to protect them when exposed to the sound of crunching caterpillars."
A study published last month in the scientific journal Nature Plants has now shown that plants are essentially communicating with their neighbouring plants by sending molecules to one another. These molecules are so sophisticated that they are influencing and changing how the neighbouring plant is then doing things. As Dr. Freeman said on the show, it is essentially the same as friends passing notes in class.
"Now we don't know why they are doing this at the moment. Maybe it is to warn each other or to send each other messages. But it could also be for competition, this could all be for guerrilla warfare between plants where they are sending this message but it might actually decrease the health of the neighbouring plant so the plant who sent the message can take advantage of maybe the limited resources in the area."
So plants are most certainly not passive creatures or house decor. We are only at the beginning of understanding the complex nature of how plants are communicating amongst themselves.
To learn more fascinating insights about science, nature and more, tune in to Green Scene, sponsored by ESB, on The Pat Kenny Show every Wednesday or catch up here.
