The Basics of Electroculture

Before we start messing around with antennas and other devices, we need to understand how Electroculture works. What are its principles and the mechanisms through which it enhances plant’s growth.

The Electrical Nature of the Earth and  its Atmosphere

The Earth carries a negative electrical charge, while the atmosphere holds a positive charge. This creates a voltage, or potential difference, between the ground and the air. This difference increases with altitude, averaging around 100 volts per yard. Grounded objects essentially extend the Earth’s surface, maintaining this electrical relationship.

Clouds, on the other hand, are highly negatively charged. Together, these charges form a system of static electricity, which is more noticeable in winter when the air is drier.

How Static Electricity Works

Static electricity flows more efficiently between two objects with different charges if those objects are pointed. In such cases, electricity can move continuously without generating a spark. However, if the objects are flat or rounded, the charge builds up until the voltage ionizes the air, resulting in a spark or lightning.

This principle is the foundation of Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod. A pointed metal rod (antenna) placed high above a building and connected to the ground allows atmospheric charge to slowly discharge. Preventing dangerous charge buildup and protecting the structure from lightning strikes.

The Role of Atmospheric Charge in Life

Life is essentially electrical; it depends on electricity to exist and function. Our brains send electrical signals to our muscles to move them and to control our organs. It all depends on electric signals and charges. It is the same for the rest of the animals and plants too.

The Earth’s negative charge is continuously neutralized by the positive charge from the atmosphere, which discharges through pointed features like mountains, trees, and rocks. Without this balance, the Earth would become electrically neutral within hours. Life as we know it would cease to exist.

Rain clouds play a critical role in maintaining this balance. They carry a strong negative charge, much higher than the Earth’s. When they discharge during storms, they replenish the Earth’s negative charge, ensuring the continuation of life.

Electroculture and Plant Growth

What do all of this have to do with plants? Well, lets take a look at trees. Trees absorb nutrients and water from the soil and those nutrients travel up the trunk of the trees all the way to the branches and leaves bringing those nutrients in the sap to nourish every cell of the tree. Cool right? Just like our blood, but they have no heart to pump the sap up from the roots to the top of the trees. Doesn’t that violate the law of gravity? How does the sap flow up the trunk of the tree without a heart pumping it?

The physical principle that moves sap up the trees is called electro-osmosis and it is defined as: the motion of liquid induced by an applied potential across a porous material. In other words, when a potential is applied to two ends of a porous material, like a tree trunk, one charge at the bottom and a different charge at the top, the sap will flow up. This is what moves the sap up, but you need electricity for that, where does it come from?

Trees are full of pointy objects, their leaves, their branches, thorns, all of them acting as thousands of little antennas receiving atmospheric charge and conducting it to ground, which in turn makes the sap flow up and nourish the tree. It works the same for smaller plants.

When we put up an antenna in the garden, what we are doing is collecting atmospheric charge and bringing it closer to our plants boosting their ability to transport nutrients and water to its leaves and fruits.

But the nutrients come from the soil. What is the influence of this electricity on the soil?

The Impact of Electricity on Soil

The most important part or form of soil for plants is the humus, where all the substances needed by the plants are in their most bioavailable form, ready to be assimilated by the roots. Humus is made by aerobic bacteria that lives in the soil. This bacterium breathes oxygen and eats organic debris, fallen leaves and branches, excrement, dead bodies, etc. Aerobic bacteria digest organic debris and convert it into nitrogen rich humus, which feeds the plants.

Aerobic bacteria were believed to be able to live only on the surface layer of soil because of its need to breath oxygen but it has been found in the very rich soil surrounding deep tree roots. How is this possible?

Electrolysis

When a tree conducts an electric charge to ground (the electric charge from the atmosphere that was collected by the leaves) the electricity goes from the roots to the soil. In order for this to happen, the soil needs to be moist, there needs to be some water in it so it can conduct electricity. When electricity goes through water a chemical reaction known as electrolysis occur. Electrolysis is the splitting of the H2O molecule using the electric energy, releasing hydrogen and oxygen in gas form.

The oxygen released supports the life of the aerobic bacteria, which in turn makes humus out of organic debris, feeding the plant. The more electricity a plant is able to collect and conduct to ground, the more aerobic bacteria it will support and more humus will be available for the plant.

Soil pH neutralization

Another thing that happens in the soil after hydrogen and oxygen gases are released into it by electrolysis is a series of reduction – oxidation chemical reactions or redox, between the most acidic substances in the soil and oxygen, and between the most alkaline substances in the soil and hydrogen. Once all these reactions take place the final result is soil with neutral or very close to neutral pH, which makes it ideal for most plants to grow in.

As you can see electroculture improves the soil in at least two ways: supporting aerobic bacteria that make humus and fixing the soil’s pH.

Antenna application methods

There are two main ways that electroculture antennas are installed, with some minor variations.

• The aerial method: A wire coming from the antenna runs horizontally above the plants, bringing a higher electrical charge closer to them. The plants can receive this charge and conduct it to ground, enhancing their sap flow and improve the soil by bringing more electricity to ground, releasing oxygen through electrolysis to support aerobic bacteria that ultimately will produce humus to feed the plants and fix any pH issues in the soil. The plants benefit from this setup directly with better sap circulation and indirectly by the improvement of the soil.
• The underground method: The wire is buried in the soil beneath the plants. This way improves the soil by bringing more electricity to the ground, releasing oxygen through electrolysis to support aerobic bacteria. That ultimately will produce humus to feed the plants and fix any pH issues in the soil. The plant’s sap circulation will not improve like in the aerial method. Water needs remain the same, and plants will benefit from the soil improvement.

Atmospheric charge is not the only source of electricity used in electroculture, telluric currents are also used.

Harnessing Telluric Currents

Telluric currents are a product of the magnetic nature of the earth. When the soil contains water, it is able to conduct electricity, it becomes a conductor. Electricity is the conduction of energy between objects with different levels of charge, or potential difference, voltage.

Telluric currents are electrical currents induced in the Earth’s soil by its magnetic field. These currents flow between points at different latitudes, as the charge varies with proximity to the magnetic poles.

Telluric currents are subtle but effective. They also produce the soil enriching effect of electrolysis, releasing oxygen to support aerobic bacteria that turn organic debris into rich humus.

To maximize the benefits of telluric currents, align plant rows in a north-south direction. Then place the antenna at the southern end. This ensures that the currents and atmospheric charge flow in the same direction, amplifying their effects. Installing the antenna at the northern end, however, negate this advantage.

If the rows are east-west with the antenna on either side, then you miss out on the effect of telluric currents.

The Role of Water in Electroculture

Water is central to all electroculture processes. It is a component of sap, a conductor of electricity in soil, and the medium through which electrolysis occurs. Additionally, it forms the clouds that replenish the Earth’s negative charge.

When using the aerial method, we are helping improve the plant’s sap flow that bring nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plant as well as improving the soil by increasing its nutrient content and fixing its pH, but we need to take into account that once plants are on this particular setup, their water needs increases. They need to be watered more often as with a faster sap flow they lose more water to evaporation through their leaves. They need to absorb more water to replenish it and it comes with more nutrients, so as long as there is water available this is beneficial for the plants.

Where watering more or more often is an option then aerial is the ideal setup.

If water availability is limited, the underground method may be a more practical choice, as it improves soil health without significantly altering water needs.

Now that you have a better understanding of how electroculture works, you might be wondering if electroculture also works on people.