Maximum Yield Modern Growing USA Magazine - December 2017

In this issue

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” 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.