By: Hettie Basil Lighttower

According to the Farmer’s Almanac the threat of frost for our West Virginia region will no longer exist after May 2. Those of you who put a few plants in the ground I am sure already know this and have your finger on the pulse of when to plant. Most likely your seeds are already sprouted indoor and are getting ready to be put outside!
But what other preparations are you making for your little baby plants? There is a new-to-me concept circulating on the internet that may also be new to you. Have you heard the terms electroculture? Electroculture garden? Electroculture rods? Electroculture farming? Electroculture antenna? Or have you been using these tools already? I just may the only one behind the times.
In case you have not familiarized yourself with any of these terms, let me explain. Electroculture is the use of a copper wire wrapped around a wooden stake designed to harness atmospheric electricity and geomagnetism to enhance plant growth.
So, it is basically an antenna for your plants. They can be used in the garden directly in the ground or in a potted plant outside or inside. The idea came from Nikola Tesla and are called Tesla coils. These coils channel atmospheric energy into the soil by the plant which accelerates growth, reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers as well as increases the yield of the said plant.
They look other worldly as they wrap around the wooden stake like a vine would a tree in the wild. Then at the top the copper coil continues and has a spiral of sorts as a swirly finishing touch. The shiny copper and coiled design also look very ornamental. There are several businesses making them and you can buy them online. There are a couple of different designs and gauges available. The most expensive set I found was a set of four for $96.96!! This particular set was a smaller gauged wire wrapped around a copper rod instead of a wooden rod. Then the top of it comes up in swirl that looks flat like a coin upright with a bit of a steeple on top. Fancy Schmancy!
I actually just went to the hardware store and bought some copper wire so that I can make my own. There are different grades of copper and thickness of the wires. Using a 16 to 12 gauge wire is sufficient. The wire should be a bare wire and 99.9% pure copper of course. Nothing coated. That would defeat the purpose of and usefulness of the wire. The higher the gauge number the easier it is to work with because of the flexibility. However, the lower the number of the gauge, the thicker the wire and perhaps more “juice” it will produce. The wooden dowel rod is mostly for support and manipulation of the getting the wire into the ground and staying in place.
There are a lot more questions now instead of answers. For instance which gauge really does work best? Does a thicker gauge service more than 10ft radius? How do you know the contraption is really working? Do you compare your tomato plants this year with the coil to the photos you had last year of your plants? Do you place different types of rods in different areas of your garden and a spot without any and do a comparison of progress that way? How do you know it isn’t just your soil difference making the difference? Did you space them far enough away from each other to be sure one is not “helping” the other with progress?
Has the flavor of your crops been enhanced with or without? I think there is a lot yet to be researched concerning this new idea. I like the idea. I believe it is useful and it makes sense with its design that it can be effective. Usually when anything has Tesla’s name involved it is legit and gonna be great!
Supposedly one electroculture rod services about a 10ft radius in the garden. People have been concerned about risk of lightning attraction. From what I understand, these small antennas will not attract lightning. These rods used for gardening are made of a smaller gauge as mentioned above and will only stand about ten inches out of the dirt.
Some folks have used a thicker stronger gauge for house plants, no wooden support stick and then added a crystal of some sort in the upper coil. But regular quartz crystal has been used as well as amethyst. I have yet to check back in with them to see how the progress of the plants is coming along. I am curious of course.
To break this all down to you, the electroculture rod is the whole gizmo that gets put into the ground. The electroculture antenna is the copper do-dad that stands above the rod and looks ornamental on top.
The term electroculture farming means that your crops are supported by this mechanism throughout your land area where you are growing plants and a rod is placed every square 10ft of your gardening area. And the term electroculture gardening means you are using this method for plants or flowers in your yard, or smaller garden beds.
I hope you get to explore and discover your own findings with this new idea. If you have any experience with it or know someone who does, I would love to hear about it and with your permission I would share it as well.
Send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. And remember, kindness is contagious~*