My grandmother's tip about talking to plants felt silly until I tried it

My grandma used to tell me to talk to my houseplants every morning while I watered them. I laughed it off for years until I brought home a fiddle leaf fig from the nursery in Portland that was half dead. After 3 months of chatting to it like a weirdo, it pushed out 5 new leaves. Has anyone else had a plant perk up after you started treating it like a roommate?

2 comments

2 Comments

patel.leo3d ago

Actually read a study a while back about how plants pick up on carbon dioxide when we talk to them. It's not like they understand English or anything, but our breath helps them grow a bit faster. Makes sense why my peace lily exploded after I started yelling at it about my job drama every morning. Grandma was definitely onto something with this whole plant roommate thing. Now I have full conversations with my snake plant about my day and it hasn't died yet so I'm calling that a win.

christopher_craig3d ago

Oh come on, that study you read was probably some pop science clickbait. I actually looked into this stuff because my aunt keeps talking to her ferns and I got curious. The CO2 thing is real but the amount you breathe out by talking is basically nothing compared to what already floats around in your house. It's like saying your one drop of water makes a difference in a full bathtub. Plants don't need your breath, they need light, water, and soil that doesn't suck. Your peace lily probably grew because you started paying more attention to it, watering it more, keeping it out of drafts, not because you yelled at it about your boss. People anthropomorphize everything and it drives me nuts. Your snake plant is not your therapist, it's a houseplant that's surviving despite your conversations, not because of them.