sonic bloom

In the book "secrets of the soil" there is a cahpter about sonic bloom. They don't describe the technique ver much in dept, but it seems that is is basically a way of foliar feeding while playing special sounds (Birdsongs, music??). No details given. According to them it is miraculous.
First did someone try it or know more about it? There is not much written about it.
Does it work at all?
What are the recipies they use for foliar feeding? Does it work without foliar feeding? What kind of music/sounds do they use?

The sounds on their own are reputed to help plant growth, the whole vineyards playing classical music thing. And the sonic bloom formula is supposedly essentially seaweed and selected rock dusts, essentially a trace mineral mixture. I tried to purchase some years ago from the originators family. I originally spoke to his widow who connected me with his sun who was supposedly running the family tree farm. After a few conversations I sent him a money order for 175 USD and promptly never heard back. Got in touch with the widow once more and she told me a story about burst irrigation pipes and other Minnesota adventures that quelled my suspicions for about 4 days. Left several messages with her and the son. Never heard back. There is (was?) a company selling a product called 'Sonic Bloom' in california that was a yellow powder that was supposed to be used as a foliar, I heard through the grapevine that the folks were students of the originator and there was some drama around the trademark and their recipe. I don't know the details, I have a sour taste in my mouth from my experience but it does seem like a facet worth exploring and I really like the story in secrets of the soil of the Hopi elders singing to their gardens to coax more production out of the arid desert. Foliar feeding trace minerals certainly won't hurt, playing pretty music/birdsong/sacred temple music probably won't hurt either.

I read years ago that birdsongs "wake up" plants early in the morning just prior to sunrise, and one of the effects of the birdsong sound waves makes the stomata in the leaves open. There were some botanists who claimed to have similar results while playing classical music to plants and hindu indian classical music.

I believe it was the Mozart Vineyard in Italy that I saw covered in a segment on Daily Planet, a Discovery Channel Daily about science.

I don't know if the exact mechanics were identified, but a variety of tests were done, with the only extreme measure besides normal cultivation being taken was the playing of music for the vines.

It was determined that Baroque music had the most positive effect, and Death Metal had the least (I don't quite recall, but Death Metal might have actually inhibited growth). It was also found that approximating the frequencies occupied by the music with white noise had similar effects, so no, it's not the beauty of the music that makes the plants grow better.

It was shown (though they could have done it by hand) how the vines grew in fractal patterns with the music, and contrasted with a section of vineyard where they didn't play music and the vines grew however they would.

It was suggested that the sonic vibrations of the specific frequencies vibrated the plants' tissues in such a way that water and nutrient uptake were facilitated, causing the plants to need less energy to operate, meaning more vitality for growth. It was likened to the idea that, during high-tide gravitational conditions, plants could expend less energy to pull nutrient-laden water up through their roots (I still haven't seen hard evidence of this, but the idea is compelling).

I love the idea of playing music for my plants and having them benefit. As long as the idea isn't connected to a blatant marketing campaign trying to sell me a consumable I will forever need to keep buying, the sounds of the harpsichord will be a welcome addition to my grow spaces.

-CK

Stephen, I looked at some of the websites, which sell these products and they look a bit dodgy at least.
My guess too is that you can take foliar feeding and sound apart. Regarding the birdsongs I wonder weather it has to be songbirds or do screeching cockatoos or crowing roosters count.
Chris according to your information it is first baroque then classical, what about renaissance? You could sing as well while working - which songs?
OUr veggie garden is very close to the house and the wall let everything through. We're practicisng music at least for an hour a day - practising not playing - do plants cringe when it's wrong?
The effect on sound on plants is quite interesting.

I actually met Dan Carlson back in the day (1989 or so). I flew out to meet him and to see his technology as it was used on a local farm. Yep, it's real. He had the world's largest (longest) purple passion plant...if memory serves. I bought one of his sound units and what was then a gallon of his super dark liquid gold stuff. (now it's a powder) I only used it for indoor plants - but they certainly loved the juice and vibes. The sound pulse opens the plant's pores (if you will) so that the super juice can get in. One of the secrets in the juice was gibberilic acid, among other acids like humeric (sp?) - now they use an organic version. I'd recommend not contacting his son as there was bad juju there and consider using one of the other sources available. The stuff does work - I like using the sound box better than the CDs. I'm trying to remember, but I know that Dan C "borrowed" his tech from another scientist of that era - I can't remember his name, but he worked with frequencies and plants and I don't think he was mentioned in Secrets of the Soil... I'm now looking into Ebner's work. Now that's super cool.

Cheers,

Col

There were many studies done on sonic enhancement of plants and some are still going on.
It is all about the vibration frequencies, plants respond to sonic vibrations, the same frequencies that relax a human being do much the same for plants.
We humans perform better when we are not tense and it correlates to plants responding in similar fashion.
One study done in the 1960's involved Gregorian chants and it was found that the harmonies caused plant leaves to shudder and grow faster.
Hard rock or metal music generally does not involve harmony but rather clashing intervals and that seems to make plants sickly.

One of the things about sonic enhancement that has always intrigued me is that what is pleasing and calming to human ears seems to have the same effect on plants.  

Redhawk

This subject reminds me of two youtube videos that contain fascinating information showing the relationship and interconnectedness of numbers, geometric shapes, music, frequency, etc. There is part 1 and 2, with part 2 initially repeating a few things from part 1, but adding a lot of things to the whole subject thereafter.
Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd92ksKzTKY
Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yimor2jRmCA

I found it worked solidly.  I had two Nefertiti plants, one a "control" and the other the experimental.  I applied the stuff to one of them and it grew to double the size.  That was with just one application, if memory serves, and the increased growth rate continued for the lifetime of that plant, which I eventually gave away.  

There's no good reason I haven't used it since, except for problems of upset housemates who didn't like loud music at 7:30 in the morning, but that's really more of an excuse than a reason.