I set up a South Pole vs North Pole vs Control on some seeds which haven't germinated yet. Also, I put a North and South combination on a tomato and pepper plant in the garden and will continue to monitor them throughout the season for any differences with their neighbor non-magnetized plants.

So Dave... what ever happened on this? Anything?

Palyne

Earth to Dave, come in please. What are the results?

Tony

Maybe magnets make plants carnivorous?

Funny...my daughter is doing this same thing for her science fair project this year. She just started Monday...I'll try to update this thread every week.

Dave
I found a fairly recent experiment using radish seeds which showed a significant increase in the growth of root hairs. There is also a chapter in the controversial book "The Secret Life Of Plants", by Christopher Bird and Peter Tompkins, which deals with an amazing (unbelievable?) series of experiments. I don't have the book now, but as i recall the authors claimed to grow plants without light by running copper wires from outside (daylight)into a basement (dark) and inserting them into the soil in the pots the plants were in. Like i said....controversial.
Jeff

Here is a link that might be useful: The Effects of Electromagnetic Field...etc.

I have that book Jeff--and that was the one that struck me as most amazing (and in need of validation) out of the whole book (which btw I think is great). I'll see if I can dig out that passage and post it here. It really didn't give enough useful info to replicate--I once went looking for this a couple years ago hoping to!

Attilathepun--that was truly hilarious. FEED ME!

Palyne

I only have two things to say to all you tormentors of plants..... and its simple, listen close now.... Red is positive and black is negative.

Thanks for the tip on the book "The Secret Life Of Plants" I ordered it from the library today. Cant wait to check it out.

i think it makes plants more attractive

I have never grown plants with magnets. However, my dentist made me get a water pick which helped some with gum infection, but I still had problems. Then the water pick broke, and the hygenist recommended a magnetic water pick. The water got magnetized as it went through the machine. The infection all disappeared in three months by the next check up, and has not come back.
Because the water pick impressed me, I bought some magnets from the internet and started magnetizing my drinking water.
At first I felt great, then, after a couple of months, not so great. The magnets are reputed to make hard water soft, so maybe they removed too much magnesium and potassium from the water and my body didn't get enough. I would like to go back to it though. I think a glass a day might be good. It may clear infections?

Also, I put some flowers in magnetic water, and the water NEVER got yucky, and the flowers lasted a LONG time. The water stayed clear and sweet with no rot on the flower stems.

What magnetic water does to sprouting seeds or growing plants, I don't know.

Best, Jane

interesting association,Jane...have used electrostatic sprayers -a device located at the nozzle which charges mist particles emitted from a sprayer resulting in greater coverage with less product

Who has actually experimented with either north pole facing the water for plants or south pole facing water for plants and recorded results?
I am about to plant just harvested amaryillis seed in three containers. I'll use magnetized water to water two flats and non magnetized in the third.
The water will be in a jar with a magnet wrapped around the jar oriented north for one, south for the second and none for the third.
I will refill the water after watering each time from the tap, note how much water each flat used, and record germination percents and heights of each plant.
Any suggestions from this forum's users?

Hysterical, I thought the post said magets. I must drink more coffee. I was thinking ewww, why would anyone want to try that. Thank goodness it's magnets :)

What type of magnets are you using?

Standard Ferric Oxides? Rare Earth? or Neodymiums?

I did some experiments with diametricly opposed neodymium magnetic levitation some years back, but never thought to apply it to plants! Hmmm... Let us know how it works out :D

Best Wishes
Amino-X

When starting plants this spring, I put a big speaker magnet underneath some Physallis Mullaca seedlings. A day later they had doubled in size !

I decided to follow up on this, so I cut squares of magnetic backed material I use to make magnetic signs.

I put it under the seedlings.

And nothing happened.

So maybe the magnetic sign stuff wasn't strong enough.

If this DID have good effects on the seedlings at first, I couldn't repeat the results.

Maybe stronger magnets -- or opposing polarity would help.

lol! it's spelled "maggots" anyway.

You can increase the growth of plants with magnets. The best way is to put seeds on a flat magnet (about 1500-2500 gauss) for a period of 2-6 days before planting. You'll need to experiment to find the absolute best length of time to leave them on the magnet. Plant the seeds within a day after taking them off of the magnet. You can magnetize the water that you water the plants with too. The polarity of the magnet does matter. Usually the South pole will increase growth. Some plants actually do better with North pole energy. Magnets can be attached to the hose (south pole of magnet facing hose) and given to the roots only, not the foliage. Using magnetized water alone can significantly increase the growth. If you thoroughly look into the history of using magnets for growing plants, you'll come accross the information I've given you, but it's difficult to find. Remember, the side of the magnet you put the seeds on and the side of the magnet facing the hose makes all of the difference. Generally, plants that grow under ground (potatoes) prefer North pole energy, above ground plants prefer South pole energy. There are exceptions. Magnetizing your plants is well worth the effort. They'll taste better and have a higher yield.

Find the scientist that first discovered that magnetism consists of two separate energies and you've found my source. If your skeptical that water can be magnetized, do a google search on 'U.S. government studies on magnetized water'. In 1973, there was a government study that confirmed that magnetic energy alters the properties of water. It also states that the Soviet Union has used magnetized water for many years with great economic benefit.

And now the answer you've all been waiting for... It was
Albert Roy Davis and Walter C. Rawls that made these discoveries. Plant yields can be increased from 20% to 200%! The plants will have a higher concentration of nutrients too. I've done experiments myself. They wrote about these and other fascinating experiments in their first book, "Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System".

There are some species that will grow better with exposure to North AND South pole energy. For example, the North pole plants may give you the highest yield, but the South pole plants will have the most nutrients. In these cases both will have improved qualities over plants of the same species that haven't been exposed to either magnetic field. You can find more information about this discovery on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, patent # 4,020,590.

This sounds like a perfect test for the Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel, especially if they still have the ten greenhouses from the test of music on plant growth. I would suggest it to them, but I block cookies and apparently can't post there.

Here is a long article on magnetic claims, but it only briefly mentions that plant growth is one claim.

Here is a student science fair test, in PDF format, on the effect of magnetism on plant growth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Discovery Channel: Mythbusters

Take a look at how an MRI works. http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/?quid=41

hey, i am also doing the magnet experiment and i need something to back up my oun result, would you be able to send me some of your results?

Now how about people magnetism....I read where it is best to have your bed situated so that your head [top of] is facing the north, and second best if headed south............................"?

I read somewhere that native plants growing under high power transmission lines did better than the same plants nearby. I haven't been able to confirm this. I thought that the high power transmission lines might have rapidly reversing magnetic fields but haven't been able to confirm that either.

Has anyone any information on exactly what should be done with magnets to water or the plants directly? Like what kind of magnets, and what to do with them, and where. Please feel free to email me information at standforme2002@yahoo.com.

I'm doing the whole magnet and seed thing also, but im having trouble with my research report. Anyone know of any usefull websites i could use?

I can't say that I've ever tried anything or even thought about trying anything with plants and magnets...
But now I'm going to have to, thanx a lot...
If any of my Carns eat me I'm blaming you guys...
LOL...

My many interest is Carns & Neps which do best with distilled water as I'm sure most plant probably would...

Can/does the magnet in the water have anything to do with it possibly attracting unwanted metals/minerals in the water???
Kind of like a filter / Helping to purify it & making it healthier for the plants???

Also in the soil, Attracting / Repelling minerals to or away from the plant???

???

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in...

I will post a new topic as I don't want to highjack this thread.

Here's the link to this patent number - very interesting!

Here is a link that might be useful: Magnets and seeds

I personally conducted an experiment with 0, 4000, 8000, 12000, and 16000 gauss, with neodymium magnets at 2000 gauss each. I measured O2 released over a period of slightly under a week, with a 40w light source. All specimens were placed 20 cm away, so as not to have interference between magnetic fields (the measured angle of compass deflection was at 18 cm).

up to 4000, there was no significant difference in the amount of O2 produced by the plant(in the technical term). 16000 gauss, however, was under 55% efficient: a significant difference (in the technical term).

This is logical because the magnetism will disrupt the plant's electron transport chain- which is a vital step in photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

the (rough) results were:

0 gauss: 100% efficiency (inherent)
4000 gauss: 100% efficiency
8000 gauss: 75% efficiency
12000 gauss: 66% efficiency
16000 gauss: 55% efficiency

so, no, magnetism does not help your plants grow. It starves and suffocates them.

sniff this

I'm doing a science fair project for my school. I'm experimenting on the effects of magnetism on plant growth. I'll using three pots of Sweet Basil plants. One will be a regular plant. The others will be under some type of influence of magnetism. I don't know what yet, but i might just do magnetized water. Please share some ideas that you have.

I've decided to use rosemary instead. I placed four magnets next to a potted plant on my windowsill and it started doing some weird things. The branches began spiraling.

In a book called Electroculture by George Hull, one experimented from the 1800s sowed seeds over a set of wires placed in the soil and experienced significant increases in growth. I would attribute this to the electromagnetic fields produced by the current flow in a wire. Perhaps the difference comes from the field lines being circular vs linear from a regular magnet??

Kelly,
An experiment is most likely to reveal the truth of the question if there is a control (comparing treated to untreated plants in exactly equal conditions) and also if it is double-blinded.

This means that one person would assign the treatments, but another person, blind to which pot was treated in which way, would do the observations. This would prevent the observer from something we all do without realizing it: seeing what we want to see.

Good luck with your project, let us know how it came out.

Coing

It was around 40 years ago when I helped out on a farm in southern Alberta, seeding HUGE fields of wheat etc.
The farmer had a large coil hooked up on a power source, he just run seeds through this devise. Anybody done this?

FYI, Harbor Freight has some approx. 1X1X3 inch magnets that are supposed to lift 200 lb. About $18 each.

I am a retired electronics tech. Only iron has strongly magnetic properties. Water in particular is unaffected by magnetism because it has two covanlent chemical bonds rather than an ionic bond. It is not possible to magnetize a non magnetic material such as water. Running water past a magnet will not magnetize it any more than it would glass.
There is some evidence, however, that growing plants in a magnetic field, can affect growth.

So, how did everyone's science fair experiments turn out?

I wouldn't be surprised if plants and seeds could sense magnetic fields to some degree in an effort to see what kind of climate they're growing in. Maybe magnetizing seeds can speed this process up. After all, birds can sense magnetic fields.

I have never heard of such a thing : i.e the effect of magnet on plants growth.

Why don't you just fertilize ?

You want oxygen to get into the roots, amend with organic matter. I add some fine pine bark, to improve drainage and get oxygen to the roots.

Sey

As I understand it, if there's an effect on plants with magnetism, it should likely be a cumulative effect, and not something that extra care of your plants is going to make completely irrelevant, whether or not that extra care is all your plants need. Since perhaps no one really knows the effect, though, it's a moot point whether the effect is cumulative until figured out. I think there's sufficient reason to study it.

''Why don't you just..." is usually what professionals call a micro rant: The Microcomplaint: Nothing Too Small to Whine About - The New York Times - The Microcomplaint: Nothing Too Small to Whine About

I know magnets shoot photons at each other which causes a magnetic field. These are the same photons that light uses to travel so I am very curious if that would speed up photosynthesis...but no spacific answers I can find

Interesting thought. I got some magnets for my own experimentation (primarily their effect when used on seeds before planting). So, hopefully I'll have something to report by the end of next season. It sounds like you're interested in post-planting information. I might try stuff out there, too, but it's not my main priority. I would suggest experimenting using the magnets at night, if you're going to use them on plants.

Check this out: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18512697

It looks like we've got some proof, for chickpea seeds, anyway. A gauss is a tenth of an mT. So, 1000 gauss static magnet exposure for an hour should produce results in chickpeas, or 500 gauss for two hours or 1500 gauss for two hours.

Here's another link to explain how it helps if water is exposed to magnets. Apparently, it's supposed to make saltier water easier for plants to absorb: https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/frontlines/feed-future/magnets-help-plants-grow

The earth is a big magnet, so a valid experiment would be to see how plants grow in the absence of a magnetic field. Isolating a plant from the earth's magnetic field might be a little hard to do, but maybe a Faraday Cage would do the trick.

Earth is not a magnet. Nothing in nature is polar.

If you expose what’s commonly called the north pole (N&S poles dont exist) to tomato seeds for 30min proir to gemination, your yield will be less acidic!