AN INSANE CLAIM OR DO PLANTS
GROW LIKE CRAZY?
- Jan M. Brenny
Imagine your customers being
able to produce African Violets with over 200 blooms or 15-foot tomato
plants bearing 800 tomatoes each or rose bushes with 70 blossoms.
Such results may be possible for
home gardeners with an unusual new plant-growth stimulator called Sonic
Bloom. Developed by Dan Carlson, a plant scientist and self-proclaimed
"classical inventor," from Blaine, Minnesota, the product is
available for operations ranging in size for large farms to kits for
home gardeners.
The home kit consists of a
cassette tape of high-frequency sound imbedded in Indian sitar and lyre
music; six ounces of an organic mixture containing trace minerals,
chelated amino acids, and other ‘balanced nutrients," and a spray
bottle to dilute the mixture and mist the plants. The kits retail for
around $30 and Carlson is currently negotiating with certain retails
outlets to carry the kits.
"We’ve been waiting for
the packaging," Carlson says. "It’s a problem because of the
truth in advertising rules – people don’t believe me until I show
them."
Carlson, a graduate of the
University of Minnesota, admits his process leaves people skeptical.
"We’re creating plants
that people haven’t seen before," Dan says. "At home we can’t
have too many plants around the house because they get too big." A
Purple Passion plant of Carlson’s that grew to 1300 feet is in the
Guinness Book of World Records. Part of the plant was destroyed when
it got caught in the ceiling fan, but over 600 feet still hang overhead
on hooks in the Carlsons’ kitchen ceiling.
Sonic Bloom is a two-step
process. Playing the cassette to the plant is first. The sound and music
open the leaf stomata so they better absorb nutrients, according to
Carlson. Spraying the plant with the nutrient mixture is second. The
best time for this treatment is early morning, he says.
Carlson began his work over 20
years ago. As an Army border guard in South Korea, he witnessed a woman
trying to kill her own child rather than see it starve. At that moment,
Carlson dedicated his life to solving the world hunger problem. And,
while working to achieve that goal, he developed Sonic Bloom.
After going commercial three
years ago, Carlson began selling his product by mail order, advertising
primarily in agricultural publications and through word-of-mouth. Sonic
Bloom is patented in several countries and Carlson is awaiting a patent
in the United States.
"We’ve had offers to sell
out," he says. "But the hunger problem is my main concern and
we’re starting to see some real possibilities."
Bill Krahn, an organic gardener
from River Falls, Wisconsin, sells vegetables and cut flowers and has
used Sonic Bloom for three years.
"People constantly talk
about the high quality of our vegetables," he says, "We get
increased yields and we get them earlier so we get to market ahead of
everyone else." Krahn says his cut flowers last longer and he has
noticed "tremendous growth" in the house and blooming plants
where Sonic Bloom has been used.
"We’ve noticed the plants
are healthier," he says. "There aren’t as many insects and
the plants don’t get sick. I think their immune systems are
better."
Helping his "stressed
out" plants is the reason Bruce Stone uses Sonic Bloom. Stone
operates Decorative Designs, a company that leases and maintains green
plants for offices, hotels, and condominiums.
"We have a lot of plants
going into low-light areas," he says. "We find that if we
treat them with Sonic Bloom, they do much better. Especially the ficus
trees. They get shipped up from Florida and lose a lot of their leaves,
but if we treat them with Sonic Bloom, they hold up much better."
Stone added that he treats the
plant on site in the office or hotel because the spray is non toxic. He
also uses the process in his greenhouse.
Carlson says his communication
with plants is only the beginning of what is possible.
"Someday we’ll be able to
tell plants exactly what we want from them," he says.
A tomato plant that bears 800
tomatoes or houseplant that grows to 1300 feet is getting at least part
of the message right.
-- Retailer, December 1985
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