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I've read that you can send electric currents through plants and seeds with (low currents using DC power) and that this can increase yields and all-in-all improve the plants (provided you use the right kinds and levels of electricity). It is supposed to be ineffective on certain kinds of plants, however.

Has anyone here actually tried it? What have been the results?

I'm not looking to debunk this as a myth, because there's enough variation with electricity to make a general dismissal undesirable (voltage, frequency, offset, amps, etc.) I'm just looking for results (good or bad) and what they were.

I'm not asking about lightning bolts. Of course those would destroy plants, normally.

I'm talking about low currents (not high ones).

Brōtsyorfuzthrāx
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    I've never tried it, but I bet cannabis growers have, they're the most likely group of people to have experimented with this. By the way, its not the plants as such that are 'electrocuted (sic)' but the growing medium, whether that be soil or water, usually. – Bamboo Sep 28 '14 at 10:33
  • @Bamboo Thanks. I read about experiments in the early 1900s with electricity on soil with plants already in it (for long periods while the plants were growing). It also talked about just the seeds (probably in a solution). On Saturday night, I decided to experiment with zapping bell pepper seeds with Hulda Clarke zappers. This morning, in the jar where I zapped both the soil and the seeds for about thirty minutes (with two zappers at once), the seeds already had roots. :) We'll see how this progresses. I have a suspicion it may help the peppers to tolerate more alkaline soils, at least. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 30 '14 at 03:33
  • The soil was wet mud to ensure that the electricity reached the entirety of the soil and all the seeds. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 30 '14 at 03:35
  • Just as an update, my orange and yellow bell peppers (whose seeds I zapped) began to germinate, today. The red ones (the first I noticed with roots) have not, yet, but seem to be on their way. The soil I zapped (which belongs to the red ones) is more prone to mold than the other soils, which I expected, since I used copper electrodes, which should reduce the bacteria via copper nanoparticles although the surface is rougher (which may invite mold more). The zapped soil also has, and has had since soon after zapping, a much stronger smell (maybe it's decomposing more or something). – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Oct 09 '14 at 16:53
  • The orange peppers were only zapped with a 30khz zapper, with copper electrodes, while the yellow and red (and the red's soil) were zapped with both that and a 15hz zapper's alligator clips (at the same time as the 30khz zapper). Each zapping lasted for about a half an hour. I zapped the red and yellow seeds in water (and bits of dirt) and the red seeds were zapped in mud. The zappers used rechargeable 7.2v batteries that were probably on their last legs. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Oct 09 '14 at 16:56

2 Answers2

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Electroculture is the keyword you want.

It was big in the 70's. As you already know, there were positive and negative results. Relevant searches:

plant growth electroculture

Google Scholar plant growth electroculture

I've never tried it, so can't address the question of 'what really works, and for what plants?', but this should let you find the information you're looking for.

Wayfaring Stranger
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    For a good answer, you should add the relevant parts of links you add, and place the links as sources. It's better that you do some research and craft together an answer that will help those who find this post through googling. – J. Musser Sep 30 '14 at 14:34
  • @J.Musser - Concur. However, given the generality of the question, I think I lack the expertise to pick and choose correctly for user2962794. After 2 days wo an answer, it seemed to me the proper keywords to use for his own research might prove helpful. – Wayfaring Stranger Sep 30 '14 at 15:36
  • In that case, I'd probably have made it a comment - but it would be great if you'd flesh out and make it a full answer. – J. Musser Sep 30 '14 at 15:45
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    I've basically been looking for more general information about the topic from people who have tried it. So, I think the links provide that. However, it might be a good idea to take some highlights from the links and talk about them some (since links often become broken after a few years, or some such). I'm not so much looking for what works for what plants. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 30 '14 at 17:07
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I have a little bit of experience with this now. So, I thought I'd post my results, so far. I haven't had much to work with besides Hulda Clark zappers, though (and they're not what other people have used; Hulda Clark zappers use specific frequencies with square waves and a positive offset; they usually are powered by 9v batteries; they're what I have; so, they're what I used; I imagine the results would be different with other forms of electricity).

My general, limited experience for live plants (and garlic bulbs) is that zapping them with a Hulda Clark zapper seems to stunt them for a good while, if anything. It doesn't seem to help cuttings root in water (although it does help the water stay looking good longer if you zap the water).

However, zapping seeds (in water) does not seem to have any ill effects, and in my experience, it seems to help clear the seeds of pathogens (e.g. anthracnose and alternaria). I've even experimented with seeds of infected fruits (I had Porter tomato fruit with anthracnose, and I grew it out after zapping and saw no anthracnose on the resulting fruit; I've done similar things with watermelon, but the plants seem to get foliar anthracnose, combined with spider mites, in my yard whether the seeds are infected or not; however, the zapped watermelon seeds whose parents have had it before have seemed at least a little more resilient than the others, with the exception of Red-seeded Citron, which was resilient from the start). I've been zapping seeds instead of fermenting them for a while now, and it seems to work, so far (that's my experience, anyway; this isn't exactly a full-on scientific study). I haven't noticed much, if any, effect on growth and production when I zap the seeds.

On a related note, I have found that exposing watermelon seeds to magnets seems to help them sprout a lot faster in colder temperatures (and there is at least one official study that speaks of improvements with exposing chickpea seeds to magnets—and while that's not electricity, it's not too far off). I did not notice faster germination in anything besides watermelon and muskmelons, however (muskmelons benefited slightly less than watermelons). I saw no difference in tomatoes, peppers, etc. I'm thinking the seed size, or iron content, may be important.

I think some of the benefit that comes from zapping seeds isn't directly from the electricity, however. I think the copper particles that get in the water from the copper electrodes (and hence probably in the seeds) may have an antimicrobial influence. I typically zap my seeds with a Z4EX for 15 minutes per each of three frequencies: 15hz, 2.5khz, and 30khz (usually in that order).

Zapping seeds also helps to dissolve plant matter that may be stuck to the seeds (but it's best to remove it beforehand).

Zapping seeds has not hurt germination for me. The seeds germinate quite well.

As for garlic bulbils, which aren't seeds, I think it's best to wait until they start growing some greens before planting them, if I zap them (like two or three months after zapping). I suspect the same would be true for seed potatoes (wait until they grow eyes). I can't say whether this removes diseases from such as garlic and potatoes, though. (I don't guarantee anything for seeds, either, but I suspect it works, at least for some diseases, with the procedure I mentioned—which honestly might be overkill.)

In summary, in my experience, it does seem that electricity (and definitely electromagnetic waves) can have some kind of influence on plants, both for good and ill. There do seem to be some practical uses for it for home gardeners, although my evidence for electricity is personal/anecdotal.

Brōtsyorfuzthrāx
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