Showerthought: plants actually talk to each other through roots

I always thought that was hippie nonsense until I read a study from the University of Zurich last month. Apparently bean plants can sense when a neighboring plant is getting attacked by aphids and change their own chemistry to resist it. Has anyone else run across stuff like this that made you rethink how smart plants really are?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulw8723d ago

Yeah the "hippie nonsense" part is exactly what I used to think too. The Zurich study you mentioned is solid science, but what really got me was when I read about the "wood wide web" thing - where trees use fungal networks underground to send chemical signals to each other. There's this researcher named Suzanne Simard who proved that older Douglas firs literally pump sugar through their roots to young saplings in the shade. So not just talking, but actually feeding their neighbors. That level of cooperation makes you wonder if we're the dumb ones for thinking plants are passive. Then you get into the really weird stuff like how some plants can tell the difference between their own roots and strangers roots. They'll share resources with relatives but compete with strangers. That's basically recognizing family. I saw a video where they played recordings of caterpillars chewing on leaves and the plant started producing defensive chemicals even though nothing was actually touching it. Sound detection in a thing with no ears. Its wild how much we've missed because we assumed plants were simple. Honestly makes me look at my houseplants different now.

tarag2822d agoMost Upvoted

My neighbor laughed at me for apologizing to a fern I killed, but after reading some of this stuff I started talking to my new plants like they could hear me. It felt stupid at first but honestly my living room ivy has been thriving ever since. Makes you wonder how much we overlook when we think something is just simple.

the_cole22d ago

Recognizing family" is the part that gets me. Makes my garden feel like a whole soap opera.