Feeding the world’s multitudes has been a problem for millennia.

Modern agriculture has worked for nearly a century to solve the difficulties of planting, growing, and harvesting crops in undesirable conditions.

Many people are unaware of problems maintaining or increasing food production, since they always find plentiful amounts of food in stores.

Dan Carlson has invented Sonic Bloom, a method of growing plants that feeds them through the leaves instead of the roots. Using a specially designed sonic frequency with an enriched foliar spray, he has grown plants that have garnered awards and established world records.

As a young Army recruit stationed in Korea, Carlson witnessed a Korean woman crippling one of her children so she could beg for enough food to feed the rest of her family. In a demilitarized zone foxhole, he prayed that one day he would make a difference feeding the world’s starving people.

Returning to Minneapolis, he enrolled in the university’s agricultural college and set out to discover a method of growing abundant, healthy plants under difficult conditions.

He tested growth stimulants that produced extraordinary results in three out of every 100 plants. He focused on aiding absorption through leaf tissue rather than the roots, reasoning that if plants were nourished directly through the leaves, growth stimulants of various kinds might produce consistently large plants and yields.

Reading through obscure literature at the campus library, he found that the vibratory force of certain sonic frequencies aided in absorption. Or, plants breathed better. Specific sounds encouraged the stomata to open more (stomata are tiny holes in the leaf surface, located primarily on the underside of leaves, and function like human skin pores). But the source also said not to expect more than a two to three percent increase. His experiments far exceeded that figure.

After four to five years of experimentation, with the help of a local musicologist, he arrived at a sound frequency range of 3000 to 5000 Khz, best for the widest variety of plants. Combining this with his own organic foliar spray, composed of chelated amino acids and 55 trace minerals, he began to achieve results. His earliest success was with a tropical purple passion vine averaging two feet in length. For two and one half years he treated the flower regularly with sound and weak doses of Sonic Bloom nutrient. The plant grew to a length of 1300 feet, as documented in the Guinness Book of World Records.

To convince the agricultural world that Sonic Bloom was as good as Carlson thought, he sought out open-minded home gardeners and professional members of the agriculture community who agreed to test and evaluate his system in their own backyards and large field plots. People were growing 500 or more tomatoes per plant, 45 to 55 California wonder peppers (the Minnesota average being three to five) and 300 to 400 blossoms on African violets, ten times the norm. One trial conducted by Bio Research Farms increased the yield of soybeans from 37 to 75 bushels per acre.

Skeptics might conclude that such large plants would be uninviting; probably pithy and lacking juice. But Sonic Bloom produce is tender and juicy, tastes good, and contains nutrient values way above average. One group of Florida grown Sonic Bloom oranges revealed vitamin C content 121 percent above normal, when measured at the Olive Garvey Center for the Improvement of Human Functioning in Wichita, KS.

During his years of testing, Carlson was forced to take odd jobs to support his family, even working as a car mechanic. As his research became more sophisticated and productive, he found ways to continue experimenting while helping others grow food. He spent a couple of years in New Mexico, Florida, Arizona, and Hawaii, working as a consultant with agricultural organizations that were open to his ideas, testing Sonic Bloom on an increasing variety of plants.

In 1980 he attained sufficient maturity and expertise with his system to make it available to farmers and consumers. He sold small and large garden kits containing a spray bottle, foliar nutrient, and a cassette tape of classical music and Indian ragas for backyard use. For farm use, large spraying machines were utilized. In place of a cassette tape, large speaker units emitting an oscillative sound were leased that covered from 1 to 60 acres at a time.

Sonic Bloom is easy to use. Little or no specialized training is necessary. There is no heavy or complex apparatus. Carlson recommended that the sound be sprayed for 10 to 20 minutes before spraying, preferably between 5 and 9 a.m.

The idea of playing sound to excite the stomata to open and absorb nutrients better is simple, albeit a bit bizarre and not fully understood. Sonic Bloom is adaptable for variable side plots, from 20 foot gardens to multi-acre farms. It is relatively inexpensive to use. Costs range from an average of $50 per acre for field crops to $160 per acre for trees, because more nutrient is needed to cover tree leaves. Empirical research determined that five sprays at two-week intervals give the highest yields for the widest variety of plants.

Other benefits include higher nutritional content, improved taste compared to food grown by inorganic methods, and longer shelf life. Sprouts have a shelf life of 30 days, compared with the norm of four. Fruits, grains, and vegetables are also more disease resistant, explained vice president of marketing Tim Gillespie. Insects are repelled by too much sugar, which adversely affects their digestive tracts. The plants are also healthier looking and have larger root masses.

Crops reach maturity earlier, extending the growing season and aiding farmers. Minnesota tomatoes ripen in early July instead of late August. Amaranth, a grain indigenous to Central and South America, was planted near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was ready to harvest 20 to 50 days earlier, depending upon the variety. Even the time required to germinate seeds has been reduced by one third to one half, when soaked overnight in the nutrient while exposed to a dose of sound. Some overnight germination has taken place. The greatest promise is for arid Third World countries with marginal soils and three to five inches annual rainfall.

The most impressive results happen with growing plants that have soft, pliable leaves. Members of the grass family, like corn and beans, perform well. The smallest increase in size and yield occur with plants whose leaves are covered with thick, cutin waxes, such as the jade plant.

Most plants have shown improvements in six to eight weeks, while a small minority may take several months. The most important factor for demonstrating substantial growth differences is mature plant size. It is easy to demonstrate the authenticity of Sonic Bloom with gigantic pumpkins, watermelon, and sunflowers, rather than radishes.

When Sonic Bloom is applied, open pollinated seeds significantly out-produce hybridized strains. Seeds whose genetic structure has been excessively manipulated in the laboratory lose some inherent ability to respond to external elements. On a research trial run in Idaho, 50 strains of barley improved an average of 68 percent in the first year. Replanting and treating the seeds in successive seasons gave continued improvement. Wheat seeds, the most heavily hybridized North American grain, have not fared as well as other cereal grains, such as corn, oats, barley and rye. Finding and growing uncommon wheat varieties free of hybridization could be a partial solution.

Some supporting scientific evidence exists. Most agricultural scientists have been relatively closed to Sonic Bloom, because it was not developed through traditional ways. Carlson worked empirically, while universities push standard scientific method; making hypotheses, devising experiments, taking and evaluating data with strict procedures, drawing conclusions and then beginning again, constantly revising along the way. He worked at home, and in available greenhouses and fields, instead of under the auspices of an accredited agricultural experimental station.

He didn’t rely on federal or private funds, required no initial approval, worked by himself, and challenged accepted scientific principles instead of extending them.

The main roadblock to scientific verification has been finding money to run costly research trials. Some have been paid for by Carlson and independent sources. A study done in Georgia took microscopic pictures of plant stomata under the stimulation of sonic frequencies. The photos show a tiny widening of stomata, as predicted.

A nutritional analysis of Sonic Bloom grown alfalfa, performed at an agricultural research center in Georgia, showed heightened values for most important elements. Iron rose 484 percent, calcium increased 268 percent, copper improved by 37 percent, potassium went up 64 percent, and bismuth climbed 11 percent. Of the 12 elements tested for, 10 were significantly higher. Only two decreased, phosphorus by 19 percent and zinc by only .61 percent. The higher nutritional contents of Sonic Bloom plants could help meet modern dietary standards.

A critically important translocation experiment was run at Albion Laboratories in Utah. A radioactive iron isotope was mixed with concentrated foliar fertilizer in water and sprayed onto the leaves of cherry tomatoes. When examined after incineration, the terminal leaf showed little change compared to the control. But the stem above and below the terminal leaf and the opposite leaf increased their absorption and translocation from 400 to over 700 percent, a profound difference. The scientist supervising the experiment remarked cautiously that the results implied a synergistic effect between the sound and spray, but indicated that more research was necessary to establish proof.

Carlson was more positive: "I feel comfortable that what I’ve done is found a way to make many plants increase absorption up to 700 percent of amino acids, trace elements, and plant growth stimulants. Isotopes are pretty irrefutable."

Other scientific research data can be obtained by purchasing an information packed for seven dollars. A two-hour video explains Sonic Bloom from many different angles, and the results that almost every user sees.

An enormous group of variables are left to isolate and study—climactic data, soil conditions, and plant varieties. Testing plants in and from all regions of the world will keep agricultural scientists busy for decades. Carlson relies heavily on testimonials from hobby gardeners and professional agricultural and horticultural groups. He estimates there are 68 million gardening enthusiasts in the U.S. alone. With an eye toward the future, Carlson says, "We’ve certainly got more people on line to test our product next year, including the Chelsea Flower Show in England, the most prestigious in the world."

While awaiting approval from the scientific community, he believes that the proof of his system is found in the doing. When individuals become tired of counting the yields from plants like tomatoes, beans, peppers, and gazing at abundant flower blossoms, they will have all the validation they need.

New research vistas

The evolution of Sonic Bloom has done more than just consistently grow plants in record sizes and yields. Experiments conducted in dry, desert-like climates found that sonics assisted greatly in the absorption of nutrients, and allowed plant leaves to draw in moisture from the air itself, especially in the cool, moist morning hours. Although water is still required, irrigation has been reduced 50 to 60 percent when sound has been played at optimal hours. This could help arid countries around the globe and make an exciting experiment for graduate students in agriculture or horticulture.

Most geneticists view a seed’s potential as limited, regardless of their ministrations. But Sonic Bloom has expanded the latent growth of seeds to new levels. Results have challenged the belief that plants possess fixed growth boundaries, since many of the treated plant varieties have surpassed their highest expectations in the eyes of most professional agronomists and horticulturalists. Seeds are available that can be nurtured into 16-foot corn plants with multiple ears and 400 pound pumpkins. The biggest has weighed 720 pounds.

More amazing is an unexpected phenomena; genetic elasticity. Plants sprayed and sung to had their genetic structure affected positively, so that each successive generation of seeds carried those improvements, even if untreated. Kidney beans normally produce three to four beans per pod. The first year under Sonic Bloom this often rises to four and five. Treating the forthcoming seeds the following year can increase the number consistently to five or six beans per pod. The cycle continues, as if a farmer was compounding yields on crops rather than savings deposits. What the limits are, nobody knows.

Cuttings taken from the 1300 foot purple passion vine reached lengths of 50 to100 feet and more when home grown by amateur gardeners, all from a plant that averages two feet long.

Part of the trouble in researching third and fourth generation plants was finding growers to stick to the program year after year. After three to five years, farmers switch crops to meet changing market demands, or plant little or none of a variety because of cost. They must also collect the seeds annually when it’s easier to buy new ones. This research needs a team of committed scientists to abide by the necessary restrictions, making this hypothesis repeatable and verifiable.

A lesser known extrapolation has been called Sonic Doom. Since Sonic Bloom has increased absorption so dramatically, Carlson theorized that the same concept could be adapted for contact defoliant herbicides. Initial estimates from test plots show that herbicide amounts can be reduced 50 to 80 percent for equal weed control, provided the sound was played for four hours prior to application. Absorption has worked so well that second applications were unnecessary, despite an oncoming rain.

One study conducted jointly by ACRES USA and Bio Research farms indicated at 35 percent higher kill rate (versus control) of a weed called Giant Foxtail. The overall results varied, but significantly better effectiveness won out in all cases. The railroad industry has been approached to help control trackside weeds, but the idea never caught on.

Sonic Bloom may have its most immediate economic effect on reforestation. Trees are the lifeblood of the timber industry. Huge sums of money are at stake. Deciduous trees have shown up to ten years of growth in one year, whereas conifers run about two to three times the norm.

In Third World countries, where clear cutting has stripped large patches of land bare, accelerated tree growth could be of immense value in ameliorating the desertlike conditions since, as Carlson says, "Trees are wicks for moisture." He has had such pronounced success with Sonic Bloom on his nut farm in Wisconsin (where he jokingly calls himself the head nut) that he has been able to get trees to produce nuts in abundance by the second and third years. The average is 9 to 15 years. Rapid tree growth can also make the ingredients necessary to manufacture important pharmaceuticals more available to the medical community.

From a long-term perspective, Sonic Bloom may help resurrect the timber industry in certain parts of North America and the world, recreating new jobs that have been lost while pleasing the demands of environmental groups. (Sonic Bloom is certified completely organic by the Organic Growers and Buyers Association of America.)

Carlson has worked with famous people in America and abroad, using his system of accelerated growth to help people increase their self-esteem through gardening.

Eddie Albert, the actor, and his group, the Seed Corps, have taught young children the joys of growing enormous and delicious fruits and vegetables. Harrison Ford has done the same with his project for the homeless in California. John Denver’s association, Windstar, has also been involved. William Shatner has been growing food with Sonic Bloom for his stable or prize horses for years.

Nigel Coleburn, senior editor of Gardener’s World, England’s largest gardening magazine, experimented with Sonic Bloom on his roses and garden crops. The results have been so promising that he has agreed to write a series of feature articles in the spring of 1993.

Several pages were written about Carlson and his system in the 1993 Llewellyn gardening book. Co-authors Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird have recently written a sequel to their 1973 bestseller, The Secret Life of Plants, entitled Secrets of the Soil, including a chapter of stories and opinions about Carlson’s work.

Carlson will lecture 28 times in 14 days to various growers’ associations in England during the first two months of 1993.

Spring 1993 will find Carlson in the former Soviet Union, where he predicts he "will double their production. Too bad not enough American scientists would listen," he said, noting that U.S. exports of grain will likely decline if all goes well.

Fourteen different counties using Sonic Bloom – including Mexico, China, Canada, Australia, England, and Japan – are the largest consumers. Carlson expects more countries to come on-line by signing distribution papers, with Europe as the next major market.

Future research may fine tune more exacting frequencies of sound and quantities of nutrient spray to use on specific plants. Science may discover that tomatoes grow best at 3900 Hz with six sprays, corn at 4850 Hz with four and one-half sprays, and rose bushes at 5830 Hz with seven sprays. To ascertain such precise numbers will require years of investigation, but current production levels could be expanded even further.

What drives this ex-serviceman is a sincere desire to alleviate hunger throughout the world. He firmly believes that children who are severely malnourished during the first 18 months of their lives have little chance of becoming as intelligent as their parents.

"If Sonic Bloom is used, every child will receive the food needed to develop his/her intellectual capacity," he explains forcefully. Anyone who reflects deeply upon the devastation of the world’s starving masses knows that getting food to those in need is one of the of the first steps before a country can reorganize its political and economic systems. Carlson agrees, "Planet Earth is a spaceship going someplace and we can now get there because everybody is going to be smarter. Diversity has been the key to nature ever since we started . . .we want every individual in every country to be more intelligent."

Despite overflowing enthusiasm, he speaks with the patience and wisdom of one who has surmounted many obstacles over two decades to successfully bring his long-term vision to fruition. Carrying Sonic Bloom to all pints of the globe may not happen in his lifetime. In the process his growing success and independent genius has left his modesty unaffected. He considers himself the "caretaker of a gift."

In our hurried world, few men or women realize that agriculture has been and is still is the basis of civilization. With continued violence and unrest throughout the world and the expectation that things will get worse before they get better, Sonic Bloom may be a small portion of the equation that will help restore balance, harmony, and dignity to a planet in search of itself.

-- Fate, March 1993