Darwin's descendant talks plant into growing

13:06:20 24th June 2009

Garden and greenhouse lovers may be tempted to head down to their local library after a study showed reading to your plants my encourage them to grow.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) recently carried out experiments to find the Voice of Wisley and concluded talking to the greenery is beneficial.

One of the participants was Sarah Darwin - the great-great granddaughter of RHS Scientific Committee co-founder Charles.

After reading a passage from On the Origin of Species to it over a month, her tomato plant grew 1.6 cm higher than the control specimen.

It also beat the nine other participants' plants, making Ms Darwin the Voice of Wisley.

"We can't explain exactly what the magical property in Sarah’s voice is, but it could have something to do with the pitch and tone," said garden superintendent Colin Crosbie.

He added the experiment found sounds from female mouths to be more successful.

The RHS is currently preparing to host its Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which takes place next month.