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A six-year study has found tomato plants, grapevines, and tobacco and wheat crops make sounds when thirsty or when they have had their leaves and stems cut. Investigations are ongoing to find out exactly why.
โIf only my plants could talk to me!โ say struggling plant moms and dads around the world. As things turn out, they actually are โ we just canโt hear them.
Over a period of six years, researchers in Israel have been looking and listening to the noises made by a variety of different plant species.
Theyโve found that tomato plants, grapevines, tobacco and wheat crops all make high-pitched noises when placed under stress. These sounds are not audible to the human ear โ but they are definitely there.
These varied sounds can be detected by a myriad of insects and mammals, which means our furry and feathered friends understand which trees and plants arenโt exactly having the best time.
Thanks to devices which can detect ultrasonic sounds, researchers recorded these plants and placed the noises into a machine-learning algorithm. The technology was able to tell the difference in frequencies and sorted them into three groups: not stressed, thirsty, or cut.
The frequency levels could also be adjusted digitally, for the researchers to listen to themselves.
