The Women are the Best..!! It's Official from the RHS..!!

Marley Farley · Jun 21, 2009

:hehe::thmb: Well now it is Official folks... The Women are best..!! From todays Times..

From The Times

June 20, 2009
Prince was right: study shows talking to plants helps them grow

After a classified advertisement was placed in The Times inviting members of the public to audition for roles as plant whisperers, ten different voices were chosen.
Recordings were made of the volunteers reading passages from Shakespeareâ??s A Midsummer Nightâ??s Dream, John Wyndhamâ??s The Day of the Triffids and Darwinâ??s On the Origin of Species.
Each plant â??listenedâ? to a different recording through the headphones of an MP3 player attached to its pot at root level.
The plants were kept in the same greenhouse and measured before, during and after the experiment. Control plants were not exposed to the sound of a human voice.
The plant that grew the most had been listening to Sarah Darwin, great-great-granddaughter of Charles, reading his revolutionary work. Her plant grew 1.6cm (almost two thirds of an inch) higher than the most successful of the two control plants.
Ms Darwin: â??I think it is an honour to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the GalÃ¡pagos Islands at the Natural History Museum in London.
â??Iâ??m not sure if itâ??s my dulcet tones or the text that I read from On the Origin of Species that made the plant sit up and listen, but either way I think it is great fun and Iâ??m proud of my new title [as The Voice of Wisley].â?
Colin Crosbie, garden superintendent and curator for The Voice of Wisley experiment, said that there was â??something wonderfully pleasing about a plant responding to a story about how its kind came into beingâ?. He said: â??We canâ??t explain exactly what the magical property in Sarahâ??s voice is but it could have something to do with the pitch and tone of her voice.
â??Our experiment also found that female voices had the edge over male voices in helping plants grow.â?
Mr Crosbie has long been convinced that plants respond to human vocal encouragement. â??Iâ??m a great believer. I definitely talk to plants. Most gardeners are quite tactile and we do talk to them. Sometimes we talk kindly, sometimes we threaten them.â?
On the whole the five women volunteers outperformed the men.
Indeed, I am sorry to report that my own efforts, as representative of The Times, were dismal. The poor plant that had to endure my rendering of A Midsummer Nightâ??s Dream and The Day of the Triffids on a continuous loop for a month grew less than both control plants.
Previous research has looked at the relationship between plants and music.
In 2007 Mi Jeong Jeong, a South Korean scientist, discovered that playing Beethovenâ??s Moonlight sonata to rice plants led to faster growth and earlier blossom.
Now that the RHS is convinced that plants do respond to voices, researchers just need to figure out why they prefer women over men.
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The Wisley Trial..

The Voice of Wisley

Who has the nation's most plant-friendly voice? We're experimenting with human voices to find out!

On Wednesday 1 April the RHS invited the public to come to Wisley to audition to become â??The Voice of Wisleyâ? - the nationâ??s most plant-friendly voice.
About 40 people took part in the auditions, including Sarah Darwin (Charles Darwinâ??s grand-daughter and Botanist from the Natural History Museum). They recited poetry, sang songs and read from Shakespeare, all in the name of science.
The idea that singing or talking to plants can help them grow has been widely documented.
In 2007 for example South Korean scientist Mi-Jeong Jeong found that playing Beethovenâ??s Moonlight Sonata to rice plants encouraged quicker growth and blossoms to bloom earlier.
Wisley gardener, Colin Crosbie, who looks after everything from the tiniest alpines to champion trees, says there is solid evidence to support the notion that certain sounds encourage plant growth. But now he wants to go one step further and identify the perfect voice for optimal plant growth.
He explains: â??We know that sounds of between 125Hz and 250Hz can affect gene expression in plants and help them grow but this has only been tested using music. Weâ??re appealing to members of the public who would like to contribute to our experiment to find the best way to talk to your plants.â?
The study comes as part of the RHS Grow your Own campaign encouraging people to plant more fruit and vegetables.
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The BBC..

Can talking to plants bear fruit?

Tomato variety Gardener's Delight will be used because of its even growth

Much-derided claims that talking to plants can help them grow are being tested in a serious study at the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) gardens.
For 30 days tomato plants at Wisley in Surrey will "listen" to voices through MP3 headphones attached to their pots.
Growth will be measured before, during and after the experiment and compared to "control plants" left in silence.
Wisley gardener Colin Crosbie says there is "solid evidence" certain sounds encourage healthy growth.
"We're taking it very seriously. A lot of people are thinking this is an April Fool but it's quite serious," he told the BBC.
"We want to get a great diversity of voices. There's great variation in the human voice, and there might just be the perfect voice for talking to plants.
There are many examples where plants have been threatened when not performing... and they tend to respond

Colin Crosbie
Garden superintendent, Wisley

As far as the tomatoes (Gardener's Delight) are concerned, he went on: "We've tried to pick a variety that will grow at an even rate.
"We're having fun too, but it could be very beneficial."
On Wednesday the RHS will hold auditions to try to find "the voice of Wisley" and Britain's most plant-friendly human sound.
The recordings are expected to include poems, stories, nursery rhymes, songs, Shakespearean verses and even extracts from John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids.
Mr Crosbie said: "We know that sounds of between 125hz and 250Hz can affect gene expression in plants and help them grow but this has only been tested using music.
"For the first time we will be able to advise people not only whether it's worth talking to their plants but exactly how it should be done.
Prince Charles was lampooned for admitting talking to his plants

"We may even be able to standardise the practice by recording the perfect voice for those less confident in conversing with their plants."
Toby Buckland, lead presenter on BBC Gardeners' World, said: "A lot of thinking behind this is that if a gardener is relaxed, it helps the plants grow better.
"Plants do pick up on your stress, that's something that's well known, and if you're not confident, it's as if it's a self-fulfilling prophecy for failure.
"As soon as you're relaxed, it comes together. It's well worth looking into and I'd be interested to see the results."
In a television interview in 1986, Prince Charles famously said it was "very important" to talk to plants and that they "respond" when spoken to.
His views were ridiculed by many commentators but are shared by Mr Crosbie.
"I do believe talking to plants works. Gardeners are quite tactile and there are those of us that talk to our plants to actively encourage them," he said.
"There are many examples where plants have been threatened when not performing, 'right, if you don't do it, this will be the chop for you', and they tend to respond."
In 2007 South Korean scientist Mi-Jeong Jeong claimed playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata to rice plants encouraged quicker growth and blossoms to bloom earlier.
The RHS is Britain's leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture.
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:yho: Soo.......................... Do you...??????????????????? I do...........!!!! :rotfl:

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Rhyleysgranny · Jun 21, 2009

I talk to anything that doesn't move :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Sussexgardener · Jun 21, 2009

I whisper. The neighbour things I'm nuts anyway for talking to the chickens. He'd call the men in white coats if he heard me chatting to the Penstemon!

lollipop · Jun 21, 2009

I am afraid I chat constantly to whatever plant it is that I am dealing with-friend or foe, I especially talk to the roses as I spend a part of every day with them. Barking, I know.

Lyn · Jun 21, 2009

I just talk.
To everything and everybody to all my plants
Even to our deaf dog . :o

wiseowl · Jun 21, 2009

Like lollipop I am always talking mainly to my Roses,but generally any Plant or tree, ,I tried talking to a stinging nettle once but I got stung:hehe:and I know Clint eastwood does as well:wink:

I talk to the trees
But they don't listen to me
I talk to the stars
But they never hear me

The breeze hasn't time
To stop, and hear what I say
I talk to them all
In vain
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:yho:

sweetpeas · Jun 21, 2009

I do it too but I'm not convinced they're listening

Clematis · Jun 21, 2009

I talk to all my plants - doesn't do any good though!

capney · Jun 21, 2009

Will sombody please come and talk to my cucumber!!!!
robert

andybike · Jun 21, 2009

:hehe: and you believe what the times says?:lollol:

redstar · Jun 21, 2009

Interesting. I do talk to my plants and I play Enya in the garden. Enya and the birds chirping the wind noises and weeding --a beautiful thing.

capney · Jun 21, 2009

andybike said:
:hehe: and you believe what the times says?:lollol:
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How can we not???:hehe::hehe::hehe:

Makka-Bakka · Jun 21, 2009

.
At least the plants listen!

.

redstar · Jun 21, 2009

So, does that mean the WEEDS listen too????

Sussexgardener · Jun 21, 2009

redstar said:
So, does that mean the WEEDS listen too????
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No, they're impervious to nagging:hehe:

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The Women are the Best..!! It's Official from the RHS..!!

Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

Rhyleysgranny Gardener

Sussexgardener Gardener

lollipop Gardener

Lyn Gardener

wiseowl Admin Staff Member

sweetpeas Gardener

Clematis Gardener

capney Head Gardener

andybike Gardener

redstar Total Gardener

capney Head Gardener

Makka-Bakka Gardener

redstar Total Gardener

Sussexgardener Gardener

women football is well alive

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The Women are the Best..!! It's Official from the RHS..!!

Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

Rhyleysgranny Gardener

Sussexgardener Gardener

lollipop Gardener

Lyn Gardener

wiseowl Admin Staff Member

sweetpeas Gardener

Clematis Gardener

capney Head Gardener

andybike Gardener

redstar Total Gardener

capney Head Gardener

Makka-Bakka Gardener

redstar Total Gardener

Sussexgardener Gardener

women football is well alive

Men vs Women ~ Race to 1000, here we go!

Quotes For Men And women!

Men vs Women

Fifty Beautiful Women

Share This Page

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