first feed from the editor
Plants also communicate to us , if we as growers are paying attention .”
Our plants may be more sophisticated organisms than we think .
When we look at our gardens we see individual plants , each standing in isolation from one another , doing its best to survive . But are they really alone ? In our October issue of Maximum Yield , Philip McIntosh , in his “ 10 Facts On Jasmonates ” ( page 153 ), hinted at the fact that maybe plants could communicate with other nearby plants . We asked writer Chris Bond to investigate a little further for this issue , and his findings are very interesting . In his article titled “ More Than a Pretty Smell : Methyl Jasmonates ” on page 120 , Bond writes that when a plant is subjected to a stressor and is injured , it alerts other plants that danger is nearby . Other plants receive the alert and immediately start producing methyl jasmonate to prepare for whatever onslaught is about to befall them . Amazingly , this signaling occurs between plants of different species . Plants also communicate to us , if we as growers are paying attention . In his article “ Morse Code for Plants : Interpreting Internodal Spacing ,” Frank Rauscher explains that the distance between nodes on a plant can reveal quite a bit about how it ’ s doing . Longer nodes may mean a plant is struggling , while shorter nodes generally suggest a positive growing environment . While not quite as advanced as methyl jasmonate communication , interpreting these internodal spacings is an important part of receiving information about your plant ’ s health . It ’ s an amazing notion to think plants survive better when they work together . Like humans and other animals , strong teamwork often means success . I can ’ t help but wonder , though , if my plants at home have been trying to tell me they hate the country music I ’ ve been playing for them all these years . Maybe we ’ ll get to the bottom of that in a future issue . As always , thanks for reading Maximum Yield and if you have any questions feel free to contact us at editor @ maximumyield . com .
14 first feed