Getting Up With Fragrance

A conversation with your plants.

- Snigdha Jauhari

Plants speak. But can we hear them? We cannot because they make sound at the frequencies of 20-250 kilohertz. (The maximum frequency detected by a human adult is only upto about 16 kilohertz).

A new study has revealed that while we may not be able to hear them, they speak, especially when they are stressed.

For long we have known this. And now we have yet another proof.

Researchers at Israel's Tel Aviv University have, for the first time, recorded and analysed sounds of the plants -- "These sounds resemble those of popping of popcorn, and are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at higher frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear."

The study was done on tomato and tobacco plants, wheat, corn, cactus and henbit plants.

This is how the experiment was conducted