Curious Kids: does music affect how plants grow?

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Sep 25, 2026 · 791 words · By Lily Whelehan

Scientific Method vs. Pseudoscience Plant Biology and Sound Waves

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What to know about Scientific Method vs. Pseudoscience

The article explores the scientific validity of the claim that music affects plant growth, contrasting early, non-peer-reviewed studies with modern research. It concludes that while plants can respond to specific sound wave vibrations and environmental cues, there is no evidence they distinguish between musical genres.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 1

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How does the type of music affect plants growth?

Why it matters

– Thomas, 14, Auckland, New Zealand When I’m in the lab studying my plants, I love to listen to music.

Common ground

But do my plants like it too, or do they just want some peace and quiet?

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Scientific Method vs. Pseudoscience story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that One of the most well known studies on music and plants was published by author Dorothy Retallack in 1973. It was a book called The Sound of Music and Plants?
How does this story connect Scientific Method vs. Pseudoscience with Plant Biology and Sound Waves over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-does-music-affect-how-plants-grow-28810…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

verified Verified By Reference 4

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “One of the most well known studies on music and plants was published by author Dorothy Retallack in 1973. It was a book called The Sound of Music and Plants.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Open Library and other web archives, confirm Dorothy Retallack published 'The Sound of Music and Plants' in 1973.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In Search of... is an American television series that was broadcast weekly from 1976 to 1982, devoted to mysterious phenomena. It was created after the success of three one-hour documentaries produced…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of..._(TV_series)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In biological nomenclature, organisms often receive scientific names that honor a person. A taxon (e.g., species or genus; plural: taxa) named in honor of another entity is an eponymous taxon, and nam…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organisms_named_after_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Plant intelligence is a field of plant biology which aims to understand how plants process the information they obtain from their environment. Plant intelligence has been defined as "any type of inten…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_intelligence

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “Mother Earth’s Plantasia... was released in 1976”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple web sources explicitly confirm that the album 'Mother Earth's Plantasia' by Mort Garson was released in 1976.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadian rock band. The band formed in 1990, reaching its peak popularity in the latter half of the 1990s. After an eight-year hiatus, it reunited in 2012. Between 1996 an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Mother_Earth

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mother Earth may refer to: The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies Mother goddess Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Earth

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mother Earth's Plantasia is an electronic album by Mort Garson released in 1976.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Earth's_Plantasia

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “She reported that rock music made her study plants die, while classical music made them flourish.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources report that Retallack's experiments claimed rock music caused plants to die while classical music made them flourish.

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web search NEUTRAL — Retallack conducted several experiments in which she played music to plants. She reported that rock music made the plants in her study die, while classical music made them flourish.
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-curious-kids-music-affect.html

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web search NEUTRAL — [9] In contrast, rock music is claimed to exert disruptive effects due to its rhythmic intensity, leading to stress responses like avoidance behavior. Retallack observed that plants exposed to rock mu…
https://grokipedia.com/page/Effect_of_classical_music_on_pla…

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web search NEUTRAL — Experiments using plants to determine the effects of music.Dorothy Retallack and Professor Broman working with the plants used in music experiments. For her next experiment, Mrs. Retallack used two ch…
http://www.dovesong.com/positive_music/plant_experiments.asp

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Claim 4: “Studies have found that sound waves interact with plant structures such as leaf hairs.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple scientific-oriented web sources confirm that sound waves (pressure waves) interact mechanically with plant surfaces and structures.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 1, 2023 · Sound, a vibration that propagates as pressure waves, influences any surface it encounters mechanically, including that of plants [2]. Because plants do not feature an obvious organ for …
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136013852…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 16, 2026 · Sound absorption occurs when sound waves cause plant materials to vibrate. As leaves and stems move in response to acoustic pressure, the kinetic energy is dissipated through internal f…
https://biologyinsights.com/do-plants-absorb-sound-the-scien…

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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 10, 2025 · A scientific look at plant acoustics. Learn how plants detect sound and vibration to communicate, defend themselves, and shape the future of farming.
https://scienceinsights.org/how-do-plants-respond-to-sound-a…

verified

Claim 5: “A related book, titled The Secret Life of Plants, was also published in 1973.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and Goodreads confirm that 'The Secret Life of Plants' by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird was published in 1973.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Secrets of Life is a 1956 American documentary film written and directed by James Algar. The documentary follows the changing world of nature, space and animals. The documentary was released on Novemb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrets_of_Life

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" is an album by Stevie Wonder, originally released on the Tamla Motown label on October 30, 1979. It is the soundtrack to the documentary The…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder's_Journey_Throug…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Secret Life of Plants (1973) is a book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, which documents controversial experiments that claim to reveal unusual phenomena associated with plants, such as plan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Plants

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 6: “By 390 million years ago – what’s known as the mid Devonian period – plants had evolved into what we would recognise today as ferns, with structures such as roots and leaves.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia (Devonian entry) confirms that by the middle of the Devonian (approx 390 million years ago), vascular plants had evolved leaves and true roots.

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web search NEUTRAL — A map of Earth as it appeared 390 million years ago during the Middle Devonian Epoch.By the middle of the Devonian, several groups of vascular plants had evolved leaves and true roots, and by the end …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devonian

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web search NEUTRAL — By 390 million years ago – what’s known as the mid Devonian period – plants had evolved into what we would recognise today as ferns, with structures such as roots and leaves.Studies have found that so…
https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-does-music-affect-h…

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web search NEUTRAL — Microphyll has evolved independently from the megaphyll leaves of other vascular plants. The Devonian transition into a forested world had huge implications. Canopies intercepted and slowed down rainf…
https://naturedocumentaries.org/15738/devonian-fossil-forest…

verified

Claim 7: “A documentary of the same name aired in 1979.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the existence of the documentary 'The Secret Life of Plants' and its associated soundtrack released in 1979.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 8: “Some plants had an improved predator defence response after they were played the sounds of insect predators.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the claim about plants improving predator defense responses based on the sound of insect predators.

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Claim 9: “Plants evolved on Earth more than 850 million years ago, in the form of single-celled organisms that could harvest energy from sunlight.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources state that plant ancestors evolved as single-celled photosynthetic organisms around 850 million years ago.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The evolution of plants has resulted in a wide range of complexity, from the earliest algal mats of unicellular archaeplastids evolved through endosymbiosis, through multicellular marine and freshwate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_history_of_plants

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Snowball Earth is a geohistorical hypothesis proposing that during one or more of Earth's icehouse climates, the planet's surface was nearly entirely frozen, with little or no liquid water exposed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This timeline of Earth's history summarizes significant geological and biological events from the formation of the Earth to the arrival of modern humans. Times are listed in millions of years, or mega…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Earth

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 10: “Researchers have also found that some plants will grow towards the sound of running water if it is played over speakers.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the claim about plants growing towards the sound of running water via speakers.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.