The cucumber plants in the greenhouse of Roy Rosendahl in Klagstrop, Sweden, do not only thrive because of the tender treatment, irrigation strategy, or LED lights. They can also listen to tunes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Retailer Lidl Sweden installed sound system at his facility, answering to research studies indicating that vegetables grow better to the tune of classical music.
Roy Rosendahl, Gurkodlare Klagstorps Gurkodling
"To explore the impact of music on fruit and vegetables - and in an effort to offer customers the very best, we have installed sound systems that cover more than 25,000 square meters of farms around Sweden. There, fruits and vegetables now grow to the tunes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra", the retailer shares.
RISE research institute
A whole series of scientific studies show that music favors plant growth. With the aim of further improving the quality of its fruit and vegetable range, Lidl Sweden commissioned the state research institute RISE during the spring to analyze what the research says about the effect of music on plants.
"Even though plants don't have ears, they can sense vibrations from sound waves. A whole series of scientific studies show that music favors the growth of seedlings and, for example, can affect both the length of the roots and the size of the crops. Through our report, we can state that different genres of music favor the growth of different plants", says Tora Råberg, researcher at RISE.
Lidl Sweden has taken notice of this and therefore installed a sound system that covers more than 25,000 square meters of greenhouses and farms around Sweden. There, fruit and vegetables grow to the tunes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which among other things performs a symphonic version of "Sån är Lidl".
"Through this collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, our Swedish growers and the research institute RISE, we hope to raise the already high quality of our fruits and vegetables even further. It is incredibly fun to be able to offer philharmonic fruits and vegetables", says Robert Stekovic, purchasing and marketing director at Lidl Sweden.
38 percent taller plants
The report that RISE has drawn up on behalf of Lidl Sweden shows that music has the power to influence the plant kingdom. In a study where alfalfa seeds were exposed to music, 100 percent of all seeds developed into sprouts when they were played classical music, waltz or nature sounds. The same study showed that several genres of music have a positive effect on lettuce, both when it came to the length of the roots and the stem. According to another study, classical music increased the seed yield of beans by as much as 33 percent, and the bean plants grew 38 percent taller than plants not exposed to music.
A total of five growers have played classical music for tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, fresh herbs and apples. These products are available for sale in all Lidl stores around Sweden in this week, week 35. The products will be marked with a blue note, to make it easy to find them. The goods are sold under Lidl Sweden's own brand Matriket.