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On Wed, 4 May 2005 09:12:09 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote: "Chris" ] wrote in message ]... Do you reckon talking to plants might actually work - because you are giving them carbon dioxide? An episode of Dr Who inspired this thought! -- I've heard this claimed. I've also heard, and this I agree with, That when you talk to your plants, you are paying them attention and therefore will notice if they need watering/ repotting/whatever, and this is why they thrive. It's the old nature/nurture debate - and I decided to test it last year with six courgette plants. I provided two environments; one rich in well-rotted farmyard manure, the other simply plain soil a suitable distance away. I placed two courgette plants in each patch ( a suitable distance apart ), all of the same variety. I then selected one plant in each patch and marked it down for special treatment and convivial banter. The remaining plants were selected for verbal abuse. I created a control patch with the same conditions, again with two courgette plants, which would receive nothing but bog-standard tending. From a period of early May through to the end of the season I cultivated the plants. Whenever I tended the plants I always approached the plants selected for preferential treatment first, greeted them, enquired of their health, kept them abreast of events in the household, and complimented them on their fine flowers and fruits. On particularly fine days I read Thurber to them, and Frank Muir/Dennis Norden essays from the 'Complete and Utter My Word'. As regards the plants singled out for abuse I swore at them, called into question their pedigree and breeding, ridiculed the size of their fruits and threatened them with a scythe. The only difference I noted at the end of the trial was that the plants grown in less rich soil were about 25% smaller, though by no means less productive. Each plant was left with one fruit on at the end of the season to grow on into a marrow - and this time the plants on richer soil provided slightly larger fruits. I was also completely bloody sick of courgettes, and so was everyone else I'd offloaded the surplus on. This year I shall be trialling flea beetle deterrents using pictures of Jimmy Saville and Mo Mowlem. Regards, -- Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations www.shwoodwind.co.uk Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk |
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