Talk kindly to your indoor plants
In every family there is an aunt, sometimes considered a bit eccentric, who talked to her houseplants. I had one too. Sometimes she would even break off a conversation with me and ask one of her plants what they though about that! There is no doubt that many people hold conversations with their houseplants, and perhaps there is a good reason for it. One bloke in England grew a tomato with a world record weight of 4 and 1/2 lbs. He claimed he fitted it with a pair of headphones so it could listen to soothing music. Other gardeners have claimed that heavy rock music will bring some plants to the point of collapse. I’m not surprised. Some people who grow huge prizewinning pumpkins say they talk to their pumpkins, and play them music too! Many people who talk to their flower plants believe it not only helps the plants, but helps them as well. It’s believed to be particularly beneficial for stressed out businesspersons. I suppose the trick is not to be overheard, although some claim that the talking and activity in a busy office is good for plants too. 
Another young lady says she tried pop music with her maiden hair fern, and it went all droopy, but now she plays soft romantic mood music, and her fern has just shot away with new growth. Probably made her feel better too.
Meanwhile Russian scientists claim that a delicate recording instrument has recorded cries of distress when a plant had its roots dipped in boiling water. Perhaps plants are more sensitive than many of us realise. Another Russian researcher found that all plant life develops to a regular rhythm. His research showed that plants have set meal and sleep times, and sleep from two to five hours at a time. (Not at my place they don’t, even I don’t get that luxury!)
Recent research indicates that although the language may be different plants, like humans, do talk to each other and warn of impending danger, according to a study published Wednesday. New research by scientists at Kyoto University in Japan, published in the science journal Nature, describes how lima bean plants send out distress signals to protect themselves, and warn their neighbors of an impending attack by spider mites.
Instead of words and sentences, the lima bean plants emit chemicals to get their message across. ``These plants can prepare defenses against the spider mites in advance,'' Junji Takabayashi and his colleagues said in the Nature report. The chemicals make the plants less susceptible to the spider mites. They also attract the mites' natural predators to help the plants them fight them off. At the same time the chemicals can activate genes in neighboring plants to produce the same chemicals which act as an insect repellent. ``These findings on airborne information transferred among plants are important for understanding...interactions in ecosystems as well as for developing new methods for plant protection,'' the scientists added. Other research has shown that plants and beneficial symbiotic bacteria can communicate, probably also through chemical reactions.
Many years ago American naturalist Luther Burbank claimed that plants tended with love grew faster and more luxuriantly than others. Plants are unselfish. If we treat them right, feed and water them they provide us with many months, sometimes years, of pleasure. We should treat our house plants well, as honored guests, because of the sunshine they bring into our homes and our lives.
Speak kindly to each indoor plant, And ask them how they feel, “Do you find the draught too much, How do you like your meal, Is the sunlight not too bright for you, Is it warm enough today, Would you like a cooling drink, And no, you can’t go out to play!” Anon
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