"Will Prince Charles be vindicated? Can talking to plants really help them grow? That’s what the Royal Horticultural Society is aiming to find out in an experiment at Wisley Gardens in Surrey.
For 30 days tomato plants at Wisley in Surrey will "listen" to voices reading such things as poetry, Shakespeare and The Day Of The Triffids through MP3 headphones attached to their pots. Growth will be measured before, during and after the experiment and compared to "control plants" left in silence.
According to Colin Crosbie, Garden superintendent at Wisley: “"We know that sounds of between 125hz and 250Hz can affect gene expression in plants and help them grow but this has only been tested using music.For the first time we will be able to advise people not only whether it's worth talking to their plants but exactly how it should be done.”
What SFX wants to know is if tomato plants prefer John Wyndham to Hamlet?
And thanks to those of you who fell for our cunning double bluff – this is NOT an April Fool!
