Expert gardener debunks bizarre new gardening trend: ‘It’s almost certainly not effective in any material way’
Electroculture is the latest fad sweeping the gardening community.
According to its proponents, this technique uses the Earth’s “energy” to boost a plant’s natural growing process, yielding bigger and better results than traditional gardening methods. But does it really live up to the hype?
The scoop
Gardening Instagrammer Kevin (@epicgardening) recently responded to this gardening fad in a video showing his perspective and research. As he explains, electroculture is the act of taking wooden dowels, wrapping them in copper wire, and sticking them into the dirt near your garden.
The supposed effects include advanced growing, better yield, fewer pests, and longer bloom times.
“Okay, ‘electroculture’ has been going around EVERYWHERE, and it’s time to drop our take: It’s almost certainly not effective in any material way,” Kevin says in the video’s description.
How it’s helping
Electroculture’s main pull is that it can help your garden flourish. Using the Earth’s “energy” can supposedly help deal with diseases or pests and increase the yield of your garden. Early experimentation with electricity and crops may have inspired this gardening technique. But nowadays, most prefer the simplified method of copper wires and wood.
Despite the claims that this method aids gardens, scientific research and proven results are lacking. Electroculture that uses actual electricity has yielded specific results.
“Long story short, there actually IS an incredible way to boost plant yields, control pests and diseases, and have an overall healthier garden: cultivate an ecosystem,” Kevin says. “Nature has already given us all of the tools we need … a self-regulating system that you have the full power to cultivate and manage in your garden.”
What everyone’s saying
Despite the lack of scientific research into electroculture, plenty of gardeners have flocked to Kevin’s video with personal experiences from their own garden beds.
“I disagree,” one commenter wrote. “I heard about electro culture and tried it — after a few weeks, I looked at my plants, and there is a NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE in the size of the stalks of my plants before and after I added the wire.”
Another commenter got into the nitty-gritty of the trend, saying, “The more ‘information’ I see, the more absurd it gets. Which way do you wrap the copper? How deep do you place the rod? How many rods and how far do the effects go … Everyone is asking for proof saying why don’t you prove it? Yet nobody else has been able to prove that it works!”
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