Do women’s voices make tomatoes grow faster?

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The Telegraph reports this week that a new study by Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society has found that tomato plants grew up to two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them regularly. The men apparently were so bad at communicating with their tomatoes -- hard to believe -- their plants actually grew less than a plant that was left completely alone.

In the April experiment, the public was invited to record excerpts from John Wyndham’s ‘The Day of the Triffids,’ William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ and Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species.’ A selection of voices was then played to 10 plants via headphones connected to the plant pot.

Not surprisingly, the best results came from Sarah Darwin, great-great granddaughter of the legendary botanist. After reading a passage from ‘On the Origin of Species,’ Darwin saw her plant grow nearly two inches taller than the best performing male.

Note to self: Time to start reading Michael Pollan to the Better Boys.

--Lisa Boone