hope that helps

Here is a link that might be useful: Electroculture

As discussed back then you put a metal pole in the ground for your tomato plant instead of a wooden stake. big deal. I doubt anyone was going to see a difference. Of course Organic Gardening magazine tried to make a thing of it to sell magazines. But I never bought the story although I never said it was not true. It just never had any evidence to show it might be true.

The idea was you wanted the plant touching the metal pole to pick up electricity. sounds kind of corny to me. If you grew anything on a metal fence you were all set.

Totally different from all this is lightning in the sky in a rain storm. that makes ions and feeds the plants some nitrogen as fertilizer which comes down in the rain.

If it's true, wouldn't those metal tomato cages work too?

If a lightning bolt can set an oak tree on fire, wouldn't a nearly-direct hit fry a tomato plant?

I think Dangould has the right of it, citing the ions that form in the air that provide a good source of nitrogen that the plants can absorb.

Sue

This reminds me of stories of growth under hi-power transmission lines. In the West there are large areas rented to cattlemen by the BLM and it has long been conventional wisdom at the casino bars of rural Nevada that grazing was better under the hi-power transmission lines, especially near metal towers.

Yes, Aulani, you would think the cages would work or the chainlink fence my Cukes are growing on, but I can't say I've noticed any exceptional growth.

Thank you, James, your link was helpful. I found a research report that basically said the results were significant enough to deserve more investigation. If Dan and Belgianpup are right about the benefit coming from the increased ions, maybe i should just take put my air freshener/ionizer out in the garden on an extension cord.

Albert, about the grazing under the high power wires..the grazing may be better, but I wonder how healthy the cattle are? I've heard that the electrical fields cause health problems in humans.

thanks, all.

Jan

I have been researching 'electroculture' since the spring of 2007. This technique dates back several centuries. Static electrical collectors work, but not as well. There is a relationship between the mass of the plant and the mass of the metal used. A direct hit from a lighting bolt would fry any plant. but the plants in a certain proximity will benefit from the increased statical electrical charge in the air. I wrote a short explanation in my website. The flaw I have seen in the patents in the us patent office are endless. wrong voltages to wrong amperages. The electrical pattern in a plants life cycle is constantly changing in a pattern that changes through out the season.
After a year of work i got one of the systems to work. when it does work, its unbelievable. the one success i had is on the front page of my website with my son. 'Mater' is what he named it. that plant was fed a total of 4 teaspoons of nutrients. some of the branches grew to be 8-9 feet long. thats not a type-o, yes i said TEAspoons. Ive spent since then understanding this. I couldnt get this to work indoors or with seedlings though. The system I put on one of my rose bushes seemed to hold the development of the flowers. The good part is that i figured out a way to NOT use chemical pesticides while still allowing the honey bees and bumble bees to pollinate the flowers.
www.ebonyresearch.com

Jan,

Air fresheners/ionizers will not do anything. When lightning occurs, the extremely high temperatures produced (thousands of degrees) oxidizes nitrogen into nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. This dissolves into rainwater as very dilute nitric acid. If you want to create the same effect, just buy some nitrate fertilizer.

awh now, what fun would that be?

worm castings are so...
well easy.

US Patent 5,464,456
November 7 1995
filed June 30,1993 by Glen M. Kertz

Had some fun with this one.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and speculate as to the cause of the 'electric' growing...

What else happens when there is lightening that plants like?

Thinking... thinking...

Man, this is a pickle!

Thinking some more...

Oh, found it on wikipedia! Secret

Hippy wisdom sure is amazing. :)

I was a gardener in the 60's and devoured everything in Organic Gardening magazine. It was fun to do research with the electroculture process. Can't say my vegetables were outstanding, though.

Now I'm still an organic gardener, and am fascinated with the lactobacillis and beneficial microbes (BIM) added to soil, that the people on the soil forum are using and writing about. It's very enjoyable for me to explore, try, and learn. The most wacko thing I ever did was put a huge crystal in the middle of my garden in the 70's. I swear the tomatoes loved it

Sunny

sunnyside, could you explain your lactobacillis technique. ive read about filling a milk jug when its empty, shake and pour in garden...whats your strategy? if you dont mind me asking.

ebonyresearch, just go to the Soil, Compost forum and get the recipes for these "brews." Do a search on "LB" and put it in that way. I will tell you that I made my own yogurt with live culture (Stonybrook-plain), drained it and used the whey for the serum. The whey is still in my refrigerator after a month in a quart jar and is sweet and usable.

Check in with Blutranes, Pennymca, rj, etc. and see what they are doing. I don't call myself an "organic" gardener anymore, but more of a "natural" gardener.

It's a whole new world for me and I'm excited that chemicals are still not all that big a deal to have a wonderful yield for all your labor.

Good luck -
Sunny

Although I'm a bit late to this forum, I figure I'll chime in...

I have been interested in the topic for a number of years - last year I started some experiments indoors and had fantastic results that are documented in pictures on my website, ElectricFertilizer.com. Come by and check them out! I'm hoping to connect with others who are experimenting with this form of growing!

Anyhow, it really does work as the electricity influences a number of physiological changes in the plant's makeup. It also affects the soil and the organisms living within. Fascinating stuff!

Here is a link that might be useful: Electric Fertilizer Homepage