permaculture

[Meg Mullett <meg@kcnet.com>]

Keith Johnson asked:
> Has anyone on the list used a product called Sonic Bloom 
>  (http://www.sonicbloom.com/)? I just added them to the Planetary 
> Directory, so I'm curious to know about your experience with it. The 
> inventor Dan Carlson was nominated for two Nobels for his work.

Thanks Keith, for a most entertaining morning doing a little net
research on this product. What the heck..I'm stuck here sick with
nothing better to do today :)

It is my humble and completely worthless opinion that this product is
just one more example of an uscrupulous person mixing together a few
inexpensive plant nutrients and chemicals, adding some questionable
technospeak, touting themselves as renowned experts with made up
credentials, and attempting to market said product at an outrageous
price as the greatest discovery in the universe that will probably end
world hunger.  

The ingredients in Sonic Bloom are gibberellic acid, (a known plant
hormone used since the 50's to increase fruit size, bloom size, and
speed seed germination)  some chelated minerals, seaweed extract, and
Basic H detergent.  

The theory behind the stereo system thing is from some research in the
1970's that indicated that some plant stomata opened wider when exposed
to birdsongs.  This is an intriguing story, and I hope its true,
however, I can't seem to find any references to this "fact" that point
to any actual research papers.

According to the patent of "Sonic Bloom" it is:

"A process for treating plants comprising wetting the plant with a
growth promoting aqueous solution comprising 0.1 to 200 plants per
million gibberellin, one troy ounce per gallon chelated proteinacious
material, 1/16 to 4 tablespoons per gallon
seaweed extract, 0.04 to 1 liquid ounce per gallon lignite water. "

"The growth promoting chemicals used in the present invention may
include gibberellin, preferably of the type A-3. The
chemicals may be dissolved in water which preferably is free of
detrimental chemicals such as cholorine and fluorine. The
gibberellin may be present in the solution in an amount of between 0.1
to 200 parts per million by weight. The preferred level is
0.5 to 100 parts per million. "

Here's some info on gibberellic acid:
http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/gibberellic.html
http://www.flytrap.demon.co.uk/cc/data/ga3.htm
http://www.megagro.com/big/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=80&DID=6

"The solution may include other materials which are beneficial to the
plants. For example, derived proteinaceous materials such
as amino acid chelated materials may be fed to the plants using the
present process. Illustrative of such amino acid chelated
materials are the Metalosates.RTM. trace minerals from Albion
Laboratories. These chelated proteinaceous materials are
growth promoting. The proteinaceous materials may be used at a level of
1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons per quart, preferably 1
troy ounce per gallon. "

http://www.albion-an.com/plant/metalosates.htm

"The growth promoting chemicals in the present invention may include
seaweed extract. Illustrative of the sources of extract are
seaweed of the types Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus
serratus. A detailed discussion of production and
conventional use of such seaweed extract is found in "Seaweed in
Agriculture and Horticulture," by W. A. Stephenson.
Seaweed extract is commercially available under the designation
Maxicrop.TM. seaweed extract. The seaweed extract may be
used as an aqueous solution including 1/2 teaspoon to 4 tablespoons per
gallon, preferably 1 tablespoon per gallon. "

http://www.maxicrop.com/

"The growth stimulating solution may include a detergent to facilitate
uniform spreading of the solution on the plant, e.g. foliage.
The detergent desirably is biodegradable. A commercially available
suitable detergent is Basic H.RTM.. The detergent may be
used at a level of 1/4 ounce per gallon. "

http://www.shaklee.com/product/00011

"While the growth promoting material is present on the plant, the plant
is subjected to sound waves of high frequency. The sound waves may be
produced in any manner, for example, sound recordings or sound
generating devices. The sound may be of a frequency of 4 to 6 kilohertz,
preferably 4.7 to 5.3 kilohertz. The sound waves may be of a constant
frequency; however, use of a variable frequency is preferred. "
"The volume of the sound waves in the present invention may be at least
115 decibels, preferably 115 to 120 decibels. The duration of sound
treatment is at least 15 seconds, preferably about 30 seconds to 30
minutes. "

Here are some links about noise levels.  
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0835810.html
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/eng99/eng99325.htm
http://www.teamcombooks.com/mp3handbook/11.htm

Note how loud 115 decibals is.  The sound of a jet taking off from 200
ft away is 120db.  A rock concert is between 110 and 120db.  

To read the patent for yourself, go to http://patft.uspto.gov and search
for 
Patent Number 4,680,889


regarding that Nobel prize nomination:
http://www.sonicbloom.com/nobel.htm
shows a letter written by a Jacob Miller supposedly nominating Dan
Carlson for a Nobel prize.  However, it includes a resume (presumedly of
Mr Miller) that shows some employment with NASA during the
1950's...uh...who since retirement has spent his time researching the
healing power of magnets.... I see no indication of this person being an
accepted Nobel Nominator.

Here's the poop on how one gets a Nobel nomination:
http://nobelprize.org/help/faq/#1
http://nobelprize.org/economics/nomination/nominators.html

His fabulous list of achievements from his own bio
(http://www.sonicbloom.com/dansbio.htm) also includes:

 "Lifetime Achievement awards from the International Biographer Centre
of Cambridge" England (??).  However, going to their site I can find no
listing for Dan Carlson on their Lifetime Achievement winners page.

"Man of the Year" by American Biography (??)  link is broken, and it is
just pointing to the sonicbloom site.

"21st Century Award for Achievement in 2004"  broken link pointing to
sonicbloomsite

"Order of Excellence 2004" from IBC again... guess what???  No Carlson
listed.

Many other awards with no links

Grower of guinness world record largest indoor plant, however searches
on http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com show zilch on Purple Passion
Plant, Dan Carlson, largest indoor plant, indoor plant, and a browse of
all 8 pages within the Plant World category of anything supporting his
"record".  I do concede that perhaps this online version doesn't carry
all records.

Here's a link from the mad sci network about Sonic Bloom:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/apr2001/986789293.Bt.r.html

As an aside, given this technology is going to "revolutionize Indonesian
farms", the average income in Indonesia (from islamic-relief.com) is
$680 US /year, and 27% of the population lives under the povery level.  

The Model II Sonic Bloom thingee (for a 30 acre farm) with 5 gallons of
product costs $1800.

According to http://www.agrnews.org/issues/262/labor.html the rice
farmers of Indonesia have a lot more problems just trying to sell the
rice they do grow.

Thanks again for the amusement, Keith.

Meg in KS