The Effects of Sound Waves on Plants
By: Kyra Dennie, Durham School of the Arts
Did you know that plants can hear music too? They do! Music and all noises are made because of sound waves. These sound waves are measured in decibels (dB), which is the power or intensity of a sound, kilohertz (kHz), and megahertz (MHz). Some researchers say that different styles of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, classical or light music, and extracted different results, so there is no strong scientific data on the certain types of music. For our reference jazz is 440 Hz, hip hop is at 432 and earth has a frequency of 8Hz
Sound waves at 1 kHz and 100 dB for a duration of 1 hour within a distance of 0.20 meters could protome the division and cell wall fluidity while increasing the productivity of enzymes, these make the plants grow faster. More importantly these sound waves could help the plants reproduce, heal themselves and grow. They increase the amount of RNA (recombinant DNA) and the level of transcription, which both affect plant growth. The contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein, and amylase activity in the plants also increase. Overall these frequencies lead to healthier, bigger, and more plants. Sound waves help transfer energy into the cell and affect the membrane materials. This changes the biological function of the membrane and enhances cell metabolism, so the plant operates faster and consumes more food. The cell membrane is very sensitive to the outside environment and its penetrability influences the plants’ resistance to harmful materials, which are especially apparent in poor environments.
This is specifically important in terms of crops. With increased crop production and health, more people are able to be fed, at less of a cost. Sound waves at 0.1-1 kHz for 3 hours from plant acoustic frequency technology (PAFT) generator with a distance that ranged from 3 to 6 meters away from the plants every day increases the yield of sweet pepper by 30.05%, cucumber by 37.1%, and tomato by 13.2%. The yield of higher used crops such as lettuce, spinach, cotton, rice, and wheat increased by 19.6%, 22.7%, 11.4%, 5.7%, and 17.0%, respectively. In this way, more products and produce will be able to stock grocery store shelves if implemented. Currently, sound waves are not used on large, industry-style levels.
Sound waves can also decrease the amount of herbicide and biocide needed to be sprayed on weeds. In fact, mature weeds can be sprayed with 50% less of these chemicals. This happens because sound frequency technology can stimulate the leaves to open, so the amount of spray fertilizer uptake and dew is increased. Decreased spray chemicals are better for the environment because they will not run off into waterways or accidentally kill good insects or plants.
Hassanien, Reda HE, et al. “Advances in Effects of Sound Waves on Plants.” Journal of Integrative Agriculture, vol. 13, no. 2, 2014, pp. 335–348., https://doi.org/10.1016/s2095-3119(13)60492-x.
