Some people believe that talking to your plants makes them thrive. While there’s limited scientific support for sound improving plant health, there’s a growing amount of evidence about the benefits of mechanical stimulation, like touch, wind or rain. Researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry examined the impact of watering practices on tomato plants. They found that the size of the water droplets affected plant growth and resistance to pests and pathogens.
Climate change threatens crop production as rising temperatures, unstable rainfall patterns, and more insects and diseases endanger plant health and yields. Thus, there is growing pressure to identify ways to moderate these environmental effects, ideally without increasing the use of chemical pesticides. To address this challenge, Man-Qun Wang and colleagues examined how mechanically stimulating tomato plants with water droplets impacts their growth and might protect them from insect predation and fungal infection. READ FULL ARTICLE