ELECTROCULTURE

Evening Star, Issue 23353, 24 August 1939, Page 6

ELECTROCULTURE

AID ID PLANT GROWTH Practically side by side, two groups of growing plants in a George street shop window have attracted**a good deal of attention recently. They form an outstanding tribute to the value of the latest aid to gardening. “ Elcctrooulture,” or the use of electricity as an aid *to plant growth. The exhibition was staged to give practical proof _of the value of “bottom heat” disseminated through the soil 'and not from above as in the ordinary hothouse,; to growing things. , Seeds were planted on Thursday, August 10, both in a forcing frame wired for bottom heat, and also in boxes adjacent to the frame. By the following Saturday the seeds in the frame were, showing signs of life, and on Sunday they were above the ground, but those planted in the boxes adjacent did not appear until August 23, 10 days later. These latter plants had what were practically green-house conditions, obtaining the benefit of the shop lighting and a certain amount of heat from the propagating frame. Artificial light in itself has long been known as an important aid to gardening. It is worthy of notice that the plane trees in the Octagon, which are brilliantly lighted at night, have a longer growing season than other plane trees in the city; although it has been out that this is hardly a_ fair comparison. Trees, like human beings, do better for a short period of darkness. Even a constant, light, however, is better than none at all.

Some three years ago, Hr A. P. Mackie gave an interesting lecture to the Dunedin Gardening Club on ‘ Electrocultnre and Irradiation or Electricity as an Aid to Plant Growth.’ He stated that as far hack ns 1908 it had been proved that weak electric currents applied to moistened earth had accelerated the rate of growth under certain conditions. The development of electric soil ' heating cable had offered new possibilities to the gardener, giving a source of bottom heat to the plants at the turn of a switch, and obviating the dirt and labour inseparable from the manure hotbed. The system was easy and cheap to instal, and the power consumption was considerably loss than might have been expected. In addition, a perfectly even temperature was obtained over the whole bed.

This type of- gardening has been used, in Dunedin with some success, but its exhibition in a shop window affords the general public a good opportunity to see it in actual working. The electrical heat simply takes the place of that which was formerly provided by manure hotbeds, with the exception that it can. be controlled to the temperature found to be best suited to each type of plant. Moreover, no special knowledge is needed for its operation. Another interesting comparison in the same window is afforded by the fact that the plant.* grown with bottom heat are again in two sections. One set is grown in ordinary soil, the other in soil electrically sterilised. The difference should shortly bo illustrated by the weeds which are present in all soils, springing up in one box only. The plants in the sterilised soil will also he healthier owing to the absence of parasitic insects.