New Study Suggests That Plants Cry When They're Stressed
Timothy Roberts
Most of us have plants in our homes, even if we don't have a green thumb. They share our space and, in many cases, make us feel better. It's nice having something beautiful in our homes.
Although most of us have heard about the health benefits of plants, we may not give them much thought. They sit in a corner and brighten the room but did you know they can also show emotion?
Photo: Pexels/Huy Phan
Recent research published in the journal Cell shows that plants can communicate with humans. You may not have noticed it before, but that is because the sound is emitted at a high frequency, outside of our range of hearing.
According to the research, plants may give off those noises (between 20 and 100 kHz) as a response to the environment. Although humans may not hear it, animals and insects can hear and respond to the sound.
According to the study, the sound may result due to their physiological condition. The sound falls within the range of hearing of animals or insects that may be of benefit to them.
Photo: Pexels/Karolina Grabowska
Interestingly, the study also showed that the sounds may carry information about the state of the plant.
This may make you wonder why your plant may be making these sounds. In some cases, it was due to stress, such as having their stems cut or a lack of water.
For example, the study showed that plants make about 35 sounds per hour when being trimmed. An untrimmed and healthy plant will only produce one sound per hour.
Photo: Pexels/Lum3n
In order to measure the sound, the researchers put tomato and tobacco plants in small containers. Microphones were used to measure the sounds of plants as they restricted water or trimmed the stems.
Researchers weren't able to hear the sounds without the microphones, but a sound described by researcher Lilach Handany as being a "bit like popcorn—very short clicks" was recorded.
Now that they know plants make these noises, they are looking into how they make the sound. No conclusive evidence exists to answer the question but they do feel that it comes from bubbles forming and breaking in tubes (xylem) that produce a popping sound.
