“Have You Heard The News? Plants Can Feel! They Can Feel The Pain! They Cry Out! Plants Remember Everything!” – Vladimir Soloukhin
When Soloukhin started telling others of their findings he was told of another experiment which was testing whether plants had long term memory. Already crops of beans, potatoes and wheat had been tested for short term memory in experiments in which plants pulsated in response to sequences of flashes from a xenon-hydrogen lamp.
In another case a piece of mineralised rock was placed next to a philodendron. It was conditioned by giving it an electric shock each time the rock was placed next to it. It was reported that after conditioning the same plant would react when the mineralised rock was placed next to it. It did not react when a block of ore was placed beside it.
To test long term memory a man was made to “molest, even torture, a geranium for several days in a row. He pinched it, tore it, pricked its leaves with a needle, dripped acid on its living tissues, burned it with a lighted match, and cut its roots. Another man took tender care of the same geranium, watered it, worked its soil, sprayed it with fresh water, supported its heavy branches, and treated its burns and wounds.”
So electrodes were put on the plant. What do you think happened? Did the plant react?
The scientists found that when the ‘torturer’ came near the plant the recorder of the instrument went wild. The plant reacted violently to his presence. However when he left and the kind man came, the plant settled down and the recorder traced out smooth lines on the graph.
A further ability for the plant to recognise friend and foe, it can also share water with a neighbouring plant! The researchers left one plant in a jar on the shelf without water for several weeks. It was close to plants growing in normal conditions and remained healthy. The researchers concluded that the surrounding plants were transferring water somehow. A similar experiment was done in England where both plants were placed in a glasshouse and lacked water. It was discovered when one was watered through tubes from the outside the other plant reacted. This was shown by measuring the voltages between two parts of both plants.
So what does all this mean?
Ref: The Secret Life of Plants Peter Tomkins & Christopher Bird p. 68 – 9, 73
