ORIGINS OF ELECTROCULTURE
BACKGROUND
The first experiments demonstrating the electrical activity
of storms and the presence of electrical phenomena in the atmosphere
date back to May 10, 1752. Thanks to François Dalibard’s experiment,
using an iron rod several metres long, he attracted lightning. He showed
that lightning was indeed an electrical phenomenon. Benjamin Franklin did his
famous kite experiment a few months later.
History remembered only Benjamin Franklin and not François Dalibard,
the latter being less famous than the illustrious American.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod. It protects tall
buildings from lightning damage by channelling the electrical flow
directly to the ground. People noticed that plants
grew much better at the foot of lightning rods.
A few inventors — Abbé Nollet in 1749, Abbé P. Bertholon in 1783 —
developed methods to fertilise plants and trees to
stimulate growth and fruiting. Trees were watered with
electrically charged water, for instance.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, research on this new
technique developed in the industrial world under the auspices
of war ministries. They saw an opportunity to
achieve higher yields to feed the population and the military
during conflicts.
A French engineer, Justin Christofleau, was a pioneer and
developed the technique of capturing atmospheric electrical charges
and improved it by filing numerous patents.
The principle: install in a field a pole several metres tall
fitted with metal rods angled at 45°,
called a “hedgehog”. An electrical wire from this hedgehog
ran to the ground, and wires laid on the soil
carried the electrical charges as far as possible from the pole,
forming a grid that stimulated the soil.
Unfortunately this technique suffered from a major problem:
poor reproducibility. From one year to the next,
results were unpredictable. These techniques were abandoned
and chemical fertiliser lobbies easily imposed their products on
intensive agriculture.
Strange cases of electroculture
José Carmen Garcia Martinez is a Mexican farmer who, through his
intuition, manages to communicate with the plants in his fields and obtains
fabulous growth. An excerpt of José Carmen’s method:
“José Carmen Garcia Martinez is a Mexican peasant who has never
learned to read or write — at least not in the language used by his peers.
Yet he maintains a singular relationship with plants, who respond to him
by reaching exceptional sizes and yields,
testifying to their understanding of his words and
encouragements. Cabbages weighing up to 50 kg, corn stalks
over five metres tall, chard leaves a metre and a half long,
or more than 100 tonnes of onions per hectare — surprising results
he has obtained for 40 years by covering his crops with compliments and tender words.”
(source: https://www.comingaia.fr/actualites/parler-aux-plantes)
Georges Lakhovsky’s rings
Besides his multi-wave oscillator that could heal
tumours in a few sessions, his electromagnetic process
was applied to sick plants and later
used to stimulate their growth.
The principle: surround the plant’s stem with a
metal ring whose ends don’t touch,
leaving a gap of a few centimetres. This metal circle
is held by small dry-wood stakes. It is
oriented north-south. The gap faces north.
The circle is tilted at about 20° from
horizontal. No external electrical stimulation.
The effect is astonishing: the plant grows
significantly more than a control.
Various configurations have been used with similar results: bare copper wire, plastic-sheathed copper wire, iron wire…
The electromagnetic explanation via electrical oscillation of the circle
is hard to demonstrate and measure — too weak, with a frequency that would depend on the mechanical characteristics of the circle and assembly. An informational explanation is another path, but multiple experimental protocols would need to be set up.
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