What Is Electroculture Gardening?

As home gardening becomes more popular, some influencers claim that making a DIY copper antenna and sticking it in your garden’s soil is all you need to do to stimulate plant growth. Below, we take a critical and honest look at electroculture gardening and its efficacy to help you decide whether you should try it out.

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History of Electroculture

Some say electroculture gardening began in the 18th century when French scientists began studying the effects of electricity on plant life. Physicist Pierre Bertholon de Saint-Lazare pioneered the efforts by inventing a machine called an electro-vegeto-meter, which directed electrical currents through pillars into the ground.

In 1918, The British Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing created a committee to test electroculture on agricultural crops. The committee ultimately abandoned the plans because synthetic fertilizer showed more immediate and promising results.

Because contemporary gardeners have grown wary of synthetic fertilizers, electroculture once again became a topic of conversation in 2023. Many social media posts claim that electroculture is an effective and more natural alternative to fertilizer, while others maintain that it’s a pseudoscience.

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What Is Electroculture?

Electroculture is the idea that directing electricity through soil stimulates energy production in plants and encourages them to grow. A 2018 Chinese study claimed to have increased crop yields by 20% to 30% by applying voltage to the soil, for example. A 2020 Japanese study claimed that lightning strikes increased mushroom growth.

The social media discourse surrounding electroculture bears little resemblance to the actual scientific studies, though. Influencer practice typically involves sticking copper-wire antennas into potted plants and does not actually involve electricity. Advocates use language such as “harnessing the natural energy of the earth” to explain the process.

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Electrostimulation Comparison

Electroculture is not the same thing as electrostimulation. Electrostimulation involves the issuing of an electric current through an object. This practice has many real-world medical applications, such as muscle rehabilitation and cornea growth, and should only be performed under the supervision of a doctor.

Electroculture uses atmospheric electricity and does not rely on an external power source. This process works through electroculture antennas, which channel electric fields into soil.

Any device that uses a power source that claims to be an “electroculture” device is actually using electrostimulation. Take great care using such a device, as it may be dangerous to both you and your plants. Never attempt to create a homemade electrostimulation device. This is dangerous, and you could seriously harm yourself.

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How Electroculture Works

The electroculture that is formally cited in scientific studies is a type of electrostimulation. Researchers create electric currents that they direct into the soil, which they claim stimulates plant growth. Science has not yet concluded that this process works.

For electricity to travel through the air, a charge must build up and then discharge. This happens during lightning strikes and, on a much smaller scale, static shocks. However, these conditions aren’t present in the air around plants.

Many influencers equate atmospheric energy with life energy, chi, prana, or other belief-based concepts. Electroculture, as it’s practiced on social media, is pseudoscience.

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Benefits of Electroculture

Individual gardeners have claimed that they’ve encountered the effects listed below after adding antennas to their gardens. There’s currently little to no data to support these claims. 

• Greater plant growth
• Increased yields for vegetable gardening
• Reduced need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
• Resistance to pests

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Electroculture Materials

Social media’s recommendations for electroculture materials are not based on scientific research. They are not based on science from the 1700s, 1900s, or any other time period. They are drastic simplifications of a 1927 device created by a farmer and inventor named Justin Christofleau.

Because these materials do not involve the use of actual electricity, they will not damage you or your garden in any way. If you find the ideas behind electroculture interesting, you can perform your own experiment. Below are the materials you’ll need.

• 16-gauge copper wire
• Wooden stakes or dowels

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Making DIY Antennas

There’s little consensus on what constitutes a functional antenna because popular electroculture isn’t based on rigorous research. Most influencers say bigger is better, with some recommending 20-foot-high antennas. The simplest version of the antenna is copper wire wrapped around a piece of wood, such as a dowel or a chopstick, which a gardener will then stick into the soil.

Some sources claim that you should wrap the antenna clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Others claim that the antenna must be wrapped in a “perfect” or “Fibonacci spiral,” which is an open-ended shape that’s based on the golden ratio. Others recommend ditching the antenna design altogether and fashioning a wire pyramid to place over the plant.

Christofleau’s device included copper and zinc tubing, a zinc saucer, and a galvanic wire that were collectively mounted on a wooden post 20 feet above the ground. He insisted that the device had to be pointed toward the magnetic South Pole and that the wiring had to point toward the magnetic North Pole. He claimed it would create vibrations strong enough to kill all pests in the soil.

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Setting Up Your Experiment

If you want to conduct your own experiment, be rigorous about it. Include a control group by using the antenna on some plants but not others.

You can test different sizes and shapes of antennas or different gauges of wire. Measure all plants regularly and count variables such as leaves, fruits, or flowers. Keep meticulous notes in a journal over the course of weeks or months.

Remember that a key principle of science is reproducibility, and for a treatment to be effective, it should work more than once under the same conditions. If you find a configuration that appears to work, test it again. If you find something that works reliably, you may have made a scientific discovery.

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Skeptics’ Concerns

Here’s what electroculture gets right: Plants contain and transmit faint electrical signals in response to environmental stimuli. There’s reason to believe that adding the right amount of electricity might have an effect on plant growth, and there is a real chance that electroculture gardening might one day be a viable alternative to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

This has little to do with wrapping copper wire around a stick and poking it in a plant pot, though. Atmospheric electricity is real, but a copper antenna won’t conduct it into the soil. Anecdotal evidence from social media carries little weight when the pseudoscientific principles behind the practice don’t add up. Remember that influencers often receive sponsorships based on view counts, likes, and shares. 

Electroculture remains popular because home gardeners are looking for alternatives to harmful synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Homemade copper antennas are less expensive than store-bought fertilizer.

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Our Conclusion

The good news is that trying out electroculture won’t hurt your garden, so if you want to buy some copper wire and wooden stakes, give it a shot. However, you’ll have more luck fostering plant growth by employing organic fertilizers and sustainable gardening practices.

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FAQ About Electroculture Gardening

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