Can plants communicate with each other? Do they know when they’re under attack from pests? Can they tell one type of insect pest from another—say, an aphid from a caterpillar?
The answer may surprise you.
According to this week’s podcast guest, Aaron Appleby, the answer to all three of these questions is a resounding yes.
Appleby, a Ph.D. candidate at Washington State University in the Crop Science department, specializes in organic pesticides, with a focus on the hemp russet mite and fiber hemp.
Appleby said his research at WSU involves bringing organic production to the Palouse region of Eastern Washington and North central Idaho, the largest wheat growing region in the United States.
Appleby is also a certified crop advisor and owner of White Coat Laboratories, a cannabis research company in Pullman, Washington.
“We are studying how plant volatiles can increase secondary metabolites and attract beneficial arthropods to your system to reduce pest pressure,” he said.
Appleby said plants communicate with each other by releasing clouds of chemicals, which Appleby calls “plant screams.”
For instance, if a plant is under attach by a certain pest, the plant will produce a chemical cloud containing information that surrounding plants will sense and decipher, giving them a heads up on an impending pest attack.
Appleby said plants use as many as fifty chemicals to convey specific information. He likens the combinations of chemicals to our alphabet of 26 letter that we use to build words and sentences to convey meaning.
“In much the same way, plants are able to combine these different chemicals in different ratios to convey different messages to their community,” he said.
Is it possible to harness this communication system for commercial production? Can the communication among plants be enhanced to reduce our dependence on chemical fertilizers? Does this hyper-awareness mean that plants possess a form of consciousness?
That’s exactly what we’re talking about on this podcast episode. Plus we have a check-in call with Jeremy Klettke of Davis Hemp Farming in Oregon.
Aaron Appleby on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-appleby-901113272/ Washington State University Department of Crop and Soil Sciences https://css.wsu.edu/ Davis Hemp Farm https://davishempfarms.com/ News Nuggets Introducing the 1st shoe made from CBD weed https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/627753860/introducing-the-1st-shoe-made-from-cbd-weed Prowl Studio develops "first injection-moulded chair that can be composted" https://www.dezeen.com/2023/04/17/prowl-studio-peel-chair-m4-factory-milan-design-week/ Don’t Lose Hope For The U.S. Hemp Industry https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthoban/2023/04/18/dont-lose-hope-for-the-us-hemp-industry/?sh=d323f776e4bb Thanks to our sponsors! IND HEMP https://indhemp.com/ Americhanvre Cast-Hemp https://americhanvre.com/ National Hemp Association https://nationalhempassociation.org/