Electric shocks elevate chemical production in plants

[ayjay101]

I find it strange that people have gone nuts in other threads arguing about bad treatment of sentient plants for the purpose of obtaining a particular chemical yet are excited about giving plants electric shocks to increase chemical levels. or are only certain plants and chemicals more special than others

Not sure which threads you are referring to - but the process of stressing plants to encourage greater alkaloid production is pretty common practice around here and not immoral IMO - especially if it does not risk the life of the plants - as this latest method seems not to.

What is abhorrent is people tearing off bits of wild plants or trees here and there in a quest for alkaloids without consideration of the health of the plant. Stressing a healthy plant at home that you have raised and cared for is a different matter, IMO.

I think this news is MASSIVE and I eagerly await any further developments.

I think Carthaginensis has long been waiting for this!

Edited May 1, 2008 by ayjay101

[GingaNinja]

should have pointed out im not against this method.

[mu!]

GingaNinja, only plants with drugs in em are special

unless you like... pretty stuff, or something

[Smiling Cloud]

Hey there, I was actually reading about this last night in The indoor ******* growers guide by ed rosenthal. I think it was pulished in '86. In the end of the book he mentioned running a slight current through the growing medium to increase levels of alkaloids in the plants...

[ThunderIdeal]

that makes it pretty old news then. i look forward to hearing about any experiments you guys do.

i don't think too much about plants suffering, it's more to do with the environment, eg are you harming the environment by harming the plants. i wonder if somebody who intended to harvest five trees might now be able to electrocute and harvest just one tree.

[woof woof woof]

interesting......... wasnt long ago that people found out that electricity stimmulated coral growth....

hmmm........ see what 220 vlts at 10 amps will do......... muhahahhahahahahaa! ;P

[Monk]

this is pretty interesting in terms of allelopathy, and organic gardening in general (would it still be organic? heh).

It would be organic if you're using a small solar panel to do it, right?

Exactly.

Anyone got any hypothesis on where to attach the wires for aerial parts of the plant?

I don't want to ride this meme too much but in the case of Cannabis where the actives are created mostly in/on the flower, would attaching it to the nodal points be sufficient? I guess so in the case of other plants where the actives are produced in the vascular tissue or whatever, but for pot would you have to ...wire up the buds?

Well, considering that most of the production of most of the actives in the said species happens in the last stages of flowering, I think this could be done with minimal effects on yields/growth. After all, by that stage, most shoot/flower growth has ceased and they are simply exuding, um..stuff. Add to that the ease of making clones...let's see....alligator clip to the flower tip and one at the stem base. Maybe a little isotonic agar gel around clips to prevent conduction loss due to scarring/dry tissue. Just thinking out loud. 9 volt battery attached with conductivity meter in line to ensure flow...

...don't know electronics very well at all...

...how do we keep it at 10 mA providing 9V battery=500 mA/hour...

...prongs in cacti, tip to base...

...would it work on non-rooted cuttings of said cacti?!...

...easy test once again......I'm crazy, pay no attention to me....too much caffeine today.....f'n western society making me take government approved stimulants to improve productivity while ruining my heart and giving me an ulcer......

[Yeti101]

I don't know how good this information is, and both pages are about growth rather than phyto-chemical yield...

Assorted 'electro-culture' stuff: http://blog.lege.net/content/StimulatingPl...etismSound.html

Pre-treating seeds: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2000/03...es/08300009.htm

From what I've read you'd be better with the negative clip on the top, and the positive in the soil.