As you get close to cannabis plants, you will have to stay calm. They can hear you, and produce more terpenes.
Plants can sense the vibrations of predators. This causes them to produce chemical elements like terpenes to defend themselves. In addition the germination and growth of a plant could be influenced by sound.
A Heidi Appel and Rex Cocroft study from the University of Missouri has shown that plants recognize sound herbivores that feed on their leaves. They use information based on the vibrations passing through their tissues. These are elements that induce the flavor and odor profiles of the plant's terpenes. This study used a plant from the mustard-cabbage family for the experiments. But the same defenses occur in all plants.
Using cannabis's ability to 'hear'
With the cannabis plant, these chemical responses provide smells and colors that are stronger and more vibrant. This capacity is therefore an asset for growers.
Appel said that when plants felt vibrations before they were eaten by caterpillars, they reacted defensively more frequently than when they did not feel the vibrations. Interestingly, plants could differentiate between chewing noises and those caused by insect song or wind.
Thus, we can infer that plants respond to vibrations generated by herbivores in a selectively significant way.
Additionally, the study suggests that vibration may signify a mechanism involving long-distance signaling in interactions between insects and plants. This contributes to the systematic production of chemicals for defense.
A fundamental importance for terpenes
This process is where terpenes come in. Terpenes are chemicals released by plants in areas attacked by herbivores or insects. They act like bitter tasting compounds that repel animals and insects. Thus, monoterpenes help inflorescences deter insects. Even more bitter, sesquiterpenes are abundant on the leaves of plants and act against the animals that feed on them. Indeed, the terpenes exude in the resin and give it a viscous and sticky quality that traps and immobilizes the insects.
So nature works to enhance the therapeutic benefit of plants. The next time you see a plant, remember that it may not be looking at you, but it can undoubtedly hear or feel the vibrations of natural predators.
