Flower lovers often happens in dealing with garden and house plants of these mistakes

Study: Plants do not like touch

Indoor plants are not only popular eye-catchers, they also ensure a better indoor climate and filter pollutants from the air. Many plant lovers and flower lovers take care of the vegetable roommates with much love and energy. Many people make a common but serious mistake when dealing with the plants. Because they do not like being touched at all. Constant touch can damage the health of the plant and affect its growth. This Australian researchers recognized in a recent study.

Owners of indoor or garden plants like to pick and pluck their plants. They should do better, suggests an Australian research team at La Trobe University in Melbourne. Plants are proven to cause damage to health when touched by humans, animals, even conspecifics and other plants. Reason are genetic changes in the plant, which are triggered by the touch. The researchers recently published their study results in the "Plant Journal".

Antiseptic undesirable!

"The lightest touch of humans, animals, insects, or even plants that touch the wind, triggers an extensive gene reaction in the plant," said Professor Whelan in a press release on the study results. Within 30 minutes of the contact, a chain reaction in the plant is triggered, which changes about 10 percent of the entire genome. This goes hand in hand with an enormous amount of energy, which is then missing for growth and flowering. According to the study, repeated contact leads to a 30 percent reduction in plant growth.

Reasons still unclear

"We do not yet know why plants react so strongly to touch," adds the co-author of the study. Yan Wang. The researchers hold the strong reaction for a genetic defense mechanism. Many new fields of research would open up here, as these findings could also lead to new approaches and optimizations in arable and vegetable cultivation.

Can distinguish a plant between friend and foe?

"We know that when an insect lands on a plant, it activates genes that prepare the plant to defend itself against the food," Dr. Yang. However, there are also insects that bring benefits for the plants. According to Professor Whelan, these findings make it possible to identify and breed less touch-sensitive plant species.

Touch-insensitive plants should provide information

"Because we do not understand why plants show such a strong defense response to touch, we first need to understand what some of the consequences could be if we were to breed fewer touch-sensitive varieties," the professor emphasizes. There is also the danger that the plant will lack important defense mechanisms and become more susceptible to diseases. (Vb)