Herself's Houseplants

Recent research from Vidi researcher Josef Stuefer at the Radboud University Nijmegen reveals that plants have their own chat systems that they can use to warn each other. Therefore plants are not boring and passive organisms that just stand there waiting to be cut off or eaten up. Many plants form internal communications networks and are able to exchange information efficiently.

Many herbal plants such as strawberry, clover, reed and ground elder naturally form networks. Individual plants remain connected with each other for a certain period of time by means of runners. These connections enable the plants to share information with each other via internal channels. They are therefore very similar to computer networks. But what do plants want to chat to each other about? [ read more . . . Clever plants chat over there own network ]

Plants are also less aggressive about sending out roots for water when planted among family. It may be a very good thing they grow and move very slowly.

Scientists from the University of Exeter and Shimane University in Japan have proved for the first time that vitamin C is essential for plant growth. This discovery could have implications for agriculture and for the production of vitamin C dietary supplements.The study, which is now published online in The Plant Journal, describes the newly-identified enzyme, GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, which produces vitamin C, or ascorbate, in plants. Vitamin C is already known to be an antioxidant, which helps plants deal with stresses from drought to ozone and UV radiation, but until now it was not known that plants could not grow without it. [ read more. . . Study shows vitamin C is essential for plant growth ]

The vitamin C was increased in plants by manipulating genes. I have no idea if giving your plant some vitamin C in plant food will make any difference. The difference in plants exposed to stresses like smog is very impressive. The ones able to produce more vitamin C thrive while the others shrivel.

See also:
Vitamin C Protects Stressed-Out Plants
UCR: Boosting Vitamin C in Plants Can help Reduce Smog Damage