What is Electroculture—And Does It Work?

Gardening is a creative space, and gardeners are creative people. Folks are willing to try new things and explore new plants, new techniques, and new ideas. We applaud that kind of open-mindedness, but we also recommend approaching things rationally and critically at the same time. Electroculture is back in the news, trending highly in search engine results, and making frequent appearances in gardening blogs and discussion forums. As so often happens, there’s a lot of conflicting information about what electroculture is and what it does. So in this blog we’ll be addressing some of the big questions: what is electroculture? How does electroculture work? Is it worthwhile implementing electroculture in my garden? Let’s dig in!

A Basic Introduction to Electroculture

The basic idea is this: electroculture uses various-sized structures made of copper wire to channel electricity from the atmosphere into the ground near or around a plant. This supposedly helps the plant grow by providing more energy in the soil which is then transferred to the plant or plants in question. There are two primary copper wire apparatus shapes used in electroculture: a cone-shaped coil often called a Ighina Spiral, and a copper loop resting directly on the ground sometimes referred to as a Lakhovsky Coil.

In theory, electroculture offers many benefits: better soil health, increased plant growth, more and healthier blossoms and fruits, and fewer pests and plant diseases. The basic idea of using electricity to stimulate plant growth isn’t a new trend—the first examples we can find go back to the 18^th century when a French scientists named Pierre Bertholon de Saint-Lazare conducted a series of experiments using electricity to treat human diseases, improve overall human health, and enhance agricultural productivity and plant growth. Further experiments have been conducted from time to time since then, with varying results along the way.

All of this is foundational in answering our central question: does electroculture work? Let’s take a look at that now.

So, Does Electroculture Work?

We’ll answer this directly: no, there is no evidence that electroculture actually works. While electrical stimulation to encourage and support plant growth can be successful, that process involves direct high-voltage electrical current generated by a man-made source. While there’s electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere all around us, the structures used for electroculture are highly unlikely to channel any measurable amount of it to your plants. This falls far short of the levels shown to improve plant growth.

So does that mean you shouldn’t try electroculture? Actually no—if it’s interesting to you, or you like how the various devices involved look then it may be worth the experiment. We do suggest adopting a DIY approach and saving your gardening budget for soil amendments, fertilizers, or other gardening supplies that are shown to help plants grow and improve garden success. But there’s always room for a bit of fun and speculation as long as we recognize it for what it is and don’t invest too deeply in it.

We’re curious people too, so if you have direct experience with electroculture or using electricity to grow plants, we’d love to hear all about it. Please get in touch via email or in the comments section!