Science
Related: About this forumPlants can feel when touch begins and ends
https://www.futurity.org/plants-touch-pressure-2926412/Music too, probably! Wow, this blows my mind.
Bayard
(24,145 posts)Thanks for posting.
stopdiggin
(12,694 posts)I think it is worth pointing out right up front that what is being observed here is something quite, quite different than the neural connections/communication found in the animal kingdom.
WestMichRad
(1,748 posts)Makes us wonder what else they can sense. Photoperiods, temperature changes, water in soils, nutrients we already know; can they detect changes in air quality? Soil contamination? Sounds?
CommonHumanity
(276 posts)Maybe I am missing something but understanding this seems completely intuitive to me. Plants such vines will climb supports, right? How do they do it? As far as we know, they don't possess the gift of vision. So they must be able to perceive that they are touching something as they begin their ascent. It can't only be that they are reaching for the light since if that were the case they would grow straight up or out rather than climbing.
Maybe my observational deductions are clueless and I am too scientifically or botanically ignorant to get it, but it does seem intuitive to me. I could probably think up more observational evidence, but I'll leave it there rather spouting more possibly ignorant lay hypothesis. Uh-oh, just one more thing, and for this I have no observation basis, but it just seems intuitive to me that if you crush a plant with pressure the plant can feel it.
cbabe
(4,097 posts)The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the
The Secret Life of Plants: A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man Peter Tompkins, Christopher Bird 4.01 2,805 ratings288 reviews