Grow Better Roses with Music?

Well, you have pruned, sprayed, mulched, watered and done everything else we could think of. Is there anything additional we could do to grow better roses? Perhaps. Have you tried music? Neither have I but by the time you read this I may be. For several years I have read about the effects of music on plant life and have often thought this would be my next experiment but have never gotten around to it. Now it begins to make sense; I just don’t want to overlook a bet or a single chance to improve production and quality of my plants.

Protoplasm, that living matter of which all plants are composed, is in a constant state of movement but science tells us this movement is lowest in early morning and late evening. We are also told sound waves, such as music, speed up protoplasmic movement in plant cells. This stimulation would result in the manufacture of more food which in turn would lead to more vigorous growth and greater production.

Music broadcast daily for about 30 minutes morning and evening over test plots of various vegetables, sugar cane and greenhouse grown flowers has brought about marked results in quality and increased yield. Last fall someone told me about a wheat farmer who had broadcast violin solos early every morning over his wheat field. The grain was so good and the yield so much better than in the quiet fields that he was really going into it in a big way.

Of course, results did not come about immediately and no doubt a continuous program was conducted where best results were obtained. But doesn’t it sound reasonable? If music can stimulate plants and make them grow better then let’s get our iPods and Mp3 players out there in the garden and pep ’em up. What kind of music? I don’t know but perhaps “Moonlight and Roses” would be better for roses than rock and roll or Rap.

Do the plants under your bedroom window grow better than those farther away from the house? Then perhaps plants like your snoring. Do you have a stereo or Flat screen TV which sends sound waves over part of your garden or yard? Are the plants growing better in this area? You haven’t looked? Of course not, but let’s start watching. Maybe this is something good. Just think how little you knew about plant growth 20 years ago; in 20 years hence you will think those knowing no more about it than you do today are way behind the times. And they will be.

My sister in law had a large pot of grape ivy, around her home for several years, it was never spectacular but never bad. Last fall it was moved into another room right above the furnace, every sound wave and vibration from that burner is heard and felt in this spot. By Christmas the plant was doing some spectacular growing. Everyone remarks about its beauty and growth, yet it was not repotted or fertilized. There is some logical answer for the marked growth, it may be those sound waves.

If you live in any part of the country where the big spring crop of rose blooms is about gone, or has gone, then your plants are ready for fertilizer. Pick off all the spent bloom and when the eyes at the leaf axis begin to swell and grow, add a fair amount of good rose fertilizer which will stretch the stem and make the flowers larger. We who grow roses and observe their growth habits closely always fertilize during the growing season when the plants are about to break forth into new growth.

This is a good time to give them ENOUGH water. I know that is one sound wave all plants like in hot, dry weather; the vibration of the sprinkler, the rhythm of drops of water falling on the foliage.

Foliar Feeding

No, absolutely no, foliar feeding is not necessary for the growing of good roses but foliar feeding certainly does help in growing and producing BETTER roses. Many of the finest gardens I have ever seen have never had foliar feeding materials. Yet when discussing growing methods with many, many blue ribbon winners I find the majority using some type of foliar fertilizer along with a good sound system of soil fertilization. A quick shot in the arm method of getting fertilizer into plants which have been neglected is to pour one to two quarts of the foliar fertilizer around the roots of hungry plants and then at the same time start a regular two week program for foliar spraying. I still believe some soil fertilization is necessary.

Foliage Burn

For years I have contended that no burning ever came from the use of malathion used in conjunction with other chemicals caused damage. Well, some folks with more experience claim they have experienced burn in midsummer in the Deep South. I have had no burning… On the other hand most of my spraying has been done after 5 pm and only if soil has sufficient moisture. I do know a spreadersticker will cause some top side foliar burning if too much is used.

Next time you are out with the your plants try doing some fertilizing with music!

by C. Dawson

Related Articles

• Landscape Rock Speaker System Weatherproof Outdoor Garden Rock Speakers For Audio Outdoors - Question: I need some help on outdoor wireless landscape speakers. In my back yard I’m landscaping with natural stone, and want to add sound. I’ve looked at some outdoor wireless speakers but want to incorporate sound in the landscape and not blasting away on the patio. Are the landscaping speakers which look like rocks any
• Foliar Feeding Getting It’s Roots - Supplying food to plants through their leaves is a practice that’s been found to be sound, practical and necessary or desirable under certain conditions. Lest the dirt gardener misunderstand and so disapprove of foliar feeding, it is not a substitute but, in most cases, a supplement to the food taken by plants from the soil to