Photo via flickr by just Chaos

A plant has openings on the underside of its leaves called the stomata. Sensitive to changes in the environment, the plant will react by opening or closing its stomata. Sonic Bloom is a new system launched by research scientist Dan Carlson, that combines sound and foliar spray to enhance plant growth.

According to Sonic Bloom, plants extract nutrients directly from the air through natural resonance after their stomata have been enlarged by bird sounds. Sonic Bloom mimics these birds sounds with ultrasonics made up of harmonic frequencies which stimulate the tiny stomata pores on plant leaves to open. When these pores open, the plant is able to increase its uptake of nutrients by over 700 percent!

Carlson spent many hours in the University of Minnesota library, studying plant physiology. Struck by the idea that certain sound frequencies might help a plant breathe better and absorb more nutrients, he experimented with various frequencies until, with the help of an audio engineer, he found one range that was consonant with the early morning bird chirping that helps plants open wider their stomata, or mouth-like pores. Carlson has developed a special organic spray to apply to the leaves along with the sound that induces stomata to open. Even in poor soil, Carlson reasoned, plants could be well nourished with a foliar spray containing the right combination of elements.

To develop such an effective nutrient solution took Carlson 15 years of trial and error, experimenting in labs throughout the country. To find the proper balance required endless testing with radioactive isotopes and Geiger counters to trace the elements’ translocation from leaves to stems to peak to roots. Among the first natural substances used was gibberellic acid, naturally derived from rice roots, needed by every living plant.

Eventually Carlson included variety of elements derived from natural plant products and from seaweed; he also added gibberellic acid and growth stimulants, altering the surface tension of the water base to make it more easily absorbed. The end result was Sonic Bloom.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 10:56 am by obsrvtry and is filed under F is for Frequency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.