It started with the curious case of the tulips that didn’t droop.
A friend bought me a bouquet for my birthday and I assumed that, as ever, they would last a day or two before collapsing over the vase.
I grabbed a coaster to place under the vase. But this was no ordinary coaster. This was a magnetic coaster that I had bought years ago after reading about the health benefits of drinking magnetised water. I admit I kept forgetting to use it as a water coaster.
It took me a while to notice that the tulips weren’t doing their usual collapsing thing, but after a few days I started paying attention. It was amazing; several days in and they were still as upright as the first day, like soldiers on parade.
I started to wonder if the magnetic coaster was the reason. By Day 10 I felt the water needed topping up, so I stuck the vase under the kitchen tap – and the spell was soon broken; the tulips wilted the next day. Perhaps the addition of unmagnetised water was the reason?
But the experience reminded me of an article I had read in The Sunday Times about a magnetic device that, when attached to hoses and watering cans, boosts the growth of plants.
Magnets and water
I dug out the article and bought the device, called the Plantsurge magnetic water system. Among those impressed by Plantsurge is the horticulturalist and author Charles Dowding.
The device uses four powerful magnets in a waterproof casing, which use magnetic fields to treat flowing water. This causes a re-alignment of water molecules and the restructuring of its properties. As a result, plants need watering less and they grow stronger and more resilient to pests and diseases.
Plantsurge at work.
The idea is that electromagnetic energy harnessed from nature can benefit plants by stimulating growth and improving nutrient absorption. In the ancient world people noticed that after crops had been soaked by rainfall during thunderstorms, the plants' growth and yield improved dramatically.
Of course, seeing is believing so I decided to carry out my own experiment by planting lettuce seeds in two similar pots, one brown, one grey.
Will magnets boost lettuce?
Using water from a water butt, on the brown pot I used a watering can with the Plantsurge device attached to the spout, and on the grey pot ordinary rainwater. It was a good job I'd chosen to use watering cans instead of a hose because halfway through my experiment a drought was announced here in Yorkshire along with a hosepipe ban.
Initially I was a little over-eager checking in on the plants. I would rush to them each morning and feel disappointed that there wasn’t much difference. My husband reminded me that this was lettuce, not a beanstalk.
But a few weeks in and it was clear to the naked eye that the lettuce watered with Plantsurge far outstripped the ordinary lettuce in the size and number of leaves. Nature’s magic had worked.
Nature's magic - lettuce seedlings are watered using a watering can with the Plantsurge magnetic device attached to the spout.
Lettuce on the left is watered with magnetised rainwater, while the lettuce on the right is watered with ordinary rainwater.
After a few weeks it's clear that the Plantsurge lettuce has grown faster and bigger.
At EvenGreener we're always keen to add products to our range that we believe in, so we’re delighted to include Plantsurge. Read more about Plantsurge here.
Having seen what magnets did for my lettuce, what might they do for me? I’m now back to using my magnetic coaster – for hosting drinking water, not tulips.
Using Plantsurge to water houseplants.
Julie