2 ms·
Related: "Electroculture Gardening" (09/2023, 53 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37320780 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37320780
by wumms 3y ago
Related:
"Electroculture Gardening" (09/2023, 53 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37320780 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37320780
- fy20 3y agoThe most plausible explanation from this thread IMO is that plants use the potential difference between the earth and the air to measure their height. Placing a conductor in the soil means the potential difference in the air around the top of that conductor is the same as the soil, so plants determine they are shorter than they should be and need to grow more. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37351816 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37351816 I'm not 100% convinced, as from my gardening experience a lot of plants will grow as tall as they can with unlimited space and resources (tomatoes are a great example of this). However maybe it's not the above ground growth that is affected. Bigger root systems give access to more reasources so maybe it is the same mechanism there.