Curious kids: Does music affect how plants grow?

Phys · Sep 25, 2026 · 792 words · By Lily Whelehan

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Curious kids: Does music affect how plants grow?

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

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

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

What happened

Phys reports: Curious kids: Does music affect how plants grow?.

Why it matters

Swati Mestri Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor "How does the type of music affect plant growth?"—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

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Curious kids: Does music affect how plants grow??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that By 390 million years ago—what's known as the mid-Devonian period—plants had evolved into forms we would recognize today as ferns, with structures such as roots and leaves?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-09-curious-kids-music-affect.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

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

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 5

info Single Source 3

verified Verified By Reference 2

verified

Claim 1: “By 390 million years ago—what's known as the mid-Devonian period—plants had evolved into forms we would recognize today as ferns, with structures such as roots and leaves.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries for 'Devonian' and 'Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution' confirm that by the Middle Devonian, plants had evolved into forms like ferns with true roots and leaves.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — By the Middle Devonian, shrub-like forests of primitive plants existed: lycophytes, horsetails, ferns, and progymnosperms evolved. Most of these plants had true roots and leaves, and many were quite t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devonian

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Devonian ancestral plants of modern plants that may have been very similar in appearance are ferns (Polypodiopsida), although many of them are thought to have been epiphytes rather than grounded plant…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silurian-Devonian_Terrestrial_…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Middle Devonian is a fascinating time in plant evolution. During this time, plants begin to become more structurally complex, with elaborate anatomy, morphology, and increasing height.
https://www.paleoplant.org/geologic/phanerozoic/paleozoic/de…

info

Claim 2: “Plants evolved on Earth more than 850 million years ago as single-celled organisms”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific figure of '850 million years ago' for the evolution of plants as single-celled organisms is only found in the cross-referenced article. Other search results discuss prokaryotes and cyanobacteria in broader timeframes (1.5-2 billion years) but do not specifically corroborate the 850 million year mark.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A digital illustration of typical prokaryotes—cells that do not contain a nucleus. Bacteria and archaea are the two kinds of prokaryotes on Earth, and their ancestors were the first organisms to evolv…
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-new-study-po…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Somewhere between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago, one single-celled organism engulfed another. The intended meal survived. The two cells settled into an arrangement that proved more useful than digestion…
https://spacedaily.com/roughly-two-billion-years-ago-one-sin…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Cyanobacteria, as single-celled organisms, revolutionized Earth's atmosphere by producing oxygen, triggering mass extinctions, and paving the way for complex life.
https://glasp.co/youtube/p/how-a-single-celled-organism-almo…

+ 1 more evidence source

verified

Claim 3: “A documentary of the same name aired in 1979.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the existence of the documentary 'The Secret Life of Plants' directed by Walon Green, and the associated Stevie Wonder soundtrack released in 1979.

menu_book

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…

menu_book

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

menu_book

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

+ 4 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 4: “She reported that rock music made the plants in her study die, while classical music made them flourish.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that Retallack reported rock music killed plants while classical music helped them flourish, though some sources note her lack of scientific training.

menu_book

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)

menu_book

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

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Samantha Spiro (born 20 June 1968) is an English actress and singer. She played Barbara Windsor in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and the television films Cor, Blimey! and Babs, D.I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Spiro

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

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

CORROBORATED

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

menu_book

+ 4 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 6: “Mother Earth's Plantasia... was released in 1976”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Wikipedia and music archives/YouTube, confirm that Mort Garson's album 'Mother Earth's Plantasia' was released in 1976.

menu_book

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

menu_book

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

menu_book

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

+ 4 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 7: “One of the best-known works on music and plants is a 1973 book by author Dorothy Retallack called The Sound of Music and Plants.”

CORROBORATED

The existence of the book 'The Sound of Music and Plants' by Dorothy Retallack published in 1973 is confirmed by Open Library, the Internet Archive, and other web sources.

menu_book

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_…

menu_book

+ 4 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 8: “Studies have found that sound waves interact with plant structures such as leaf hairs.”

CORROBORATED

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

travel_explore

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…

travel_explore

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…

travel_explore

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…

+ 1 more evidence source

info

Claim 9: “Researchers have also found that some plants will grow toward the sound of running water if it is played over speakers.”

SINGLE SOURCE

This specific claim about plants growing toward the sound of running water via speakers is only mentioned in the provided cross-reference and was not corroborated by the other web search results.

compare_arrows

cross reference SUPPORTS — Researchers have also found that some plants will grow towards the sound of running water if it is played over speakers.
https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-does-music-affect-h…

info

Claim 10: “Some plants had an improved predator defense response after they were played the sounds of insect predators.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim regarding improved predator defense responses to insect sounds is only mentioned in the provided cross-reference and not corroborated by other search results.

compare_arrows

cross reference SUPPORTS — Some plants had an improved predator defence response after they were played the sounds of insect predators.
https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-does-music-affect-h…

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.