Trichome as a tuned antenna?

(A fascinating insight into potential of the true full wavelength range of electromagnetic energy that plants are adapted to use)

Published by Mass Medical Strains, May 8, 2024.

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I'd love to share an interesting potential discovery with the world, and encourage researchers to explore this topic further. My intuition, experience, and scientific knowledge points heavily to the importance of full spectrum light as whole, which I consider to be from UV through Infrared wavelengths (not just PAR or Visible light) for the proper functioning of both plant and human biology. While plants can be grown without Infrared, we see a drastically altered metabolism of nutrients, and a different genetic expression which can be measured by labs and also is perceived by humans. Infrared seems to be of major importance to the proper full genetic potential of a plant, and while originally deemed a "waste" by scientists, we are now seeing its importance, since we've eliminated it when using LEDs.

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Initially, the work of McCree had scientists convinced that plants only use light wavelengths from 400nm to 700nm. While his experiments were great, they have some serious limitations, namely that each wavelength was tested in isolation,  which is not how they occur in nature; sunlight is always a full range of spectra together. I'd like to point out that different light wavelengths in tandem with each other behave differently than when isolated. The Emerson Effect is just one example of the synergy between multiple wavelengths occurring together and behaving multiple times more powerfully than either one alone. Bruce Bugbee's research proving the photosynthetic efficiency of 750nm wavelengths goes along this path too, improving off of McCree's original work with a deeper understanding. But there's still a lot more research to be done. My own exploration has shown that the presence of Infrared makes a major noticable improvement in the garden, and is one of the reasons Metal Halide lighting has such incredible results indoors. The infrared seems to give the plants a much easier time utilizing nutrients, with much less importance on a tight environmental condition, plants can grow optimally with a wider range of temperatures and have better results with less effort. Ideally, I believe we don't want to isolate parts of the spectrum, we want a full spectrum to have everything working properly. We'll come back to all this later... now for the exciting part:

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My favorite scientist is Phillip Callahan. I highly recommend reading his books. The basis of what I am about to propose is inspired by his book, Tuning Into Nature, in which he discusses how insect antennas work the exact same way as manmade antennas, they are both tuned to specific frequencies based on their size. Callahan posits that form equals function, and anything manmade is likely to have an equivalent form with an equivalent function, to be discovered somewhere in nature! His experiments proved that insect antenna are tuned to specific IR frequencies, which they can use to detect or "smell" different compounds. Callahan is a world renowned scientist who has published over 100 papers. His discoveries and experiments even lead to the development of the Heat Seeking Missile! His fascination with the natural world and science is an inspirational combination, and his books are very insightful on many levels, especially for those interested in gardening, plants, light, Earth, etc.

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While looking at a picture of cannabis trichomes and Cystolithic hairs, I had an insight. Visually, this Cystolithic hair reminds me exactly of the insect antennas pictured in Callahan's book. After doing some research, little is known about these small "hairs." One theory is that they may help deter insects. Some research suggests they can produce compounds that protect against UV light. While it's possible they do serve these purposes, it's also possible they have another function, and I wondered, could it be a tuned antenna? I set out to find out. As mentioned before, you can calculate the frequency that an antenna is tuned to, based on its dimensions. I figured, this "tuned antenna" will either spit out a relevant number that points to something we understand, or be totally obscure and meaningless, off by orders of magnitude and irrelevant, effectively disproving the antenna theory I had about the Cystolithic hair on the cannabis plant. I was curious if calculations would say it is tuned to any frequency within the usable light range.

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I plugged in the dimensions to an antenna calculator online, and the wavelength that the hair antenna would be tuned to is none other than 420nm, which corresponds to blue light near the ultraviolet range! I was absolutely excited at this, because I didn't know if it would actually be tuned to something like visible light, or just give a random wavelength far out in the radio frequency range which would have left me clueless or assuming it's not as likely to be tuned antenna. The fact that, if it is indeed a tuned antenna as its form suggests, that would just so happen to be tuned to visible blue light energy that we already know the plant is using, is simply amazing!

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A tuned antenna can also utilize waves that are 1/2 and 1/4 the wavelength, and in this case the half wavelength is 210nm, which is a bit irrelevant here as a UV-C wavelength blocked by our atmosphere.

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However, as exciting as this possibility is, we don't stop here! My curiosity was growing, and I realized the trichome is also antenna shaped, although it has a bulbous shape on top of it. I am pretty sure I've seen antenna with circles up top... so why not see if any relevant numbers come up if we just assume it's also got an antenna function to it.

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Putting the trichome size into the antenna calculator shows that, if it is indeed an antenna, it's tuned to a wavelength of 1050.08nm, and tuned to a 1/4 wavelength which equals 262.7nm, plus a half wavelength of 525.4nm. This is profoundly exciting to me, because I have been saying for a while now that plants are utilizing energy from UV through visible and all the way into the 1000nm range of IR or even further. Now, what do these numbers mean?

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My theory is this. The trichomes are tuned to (sun)light frequencies that it is capturing and utilizing in some way, as an antenna it is tuned to specific wavelengths within a relevant range. Plants don't seem to use things like radio or microwave frequencies, but they do seem to use visible light, infrared, ultraviolet for many functions, not limited to traditional photosynthesis only. Different light wavelengths (including UV + IR) appear to influence the plants in many ways. Keep in mind trichomes can vary by size, so these calculations can also be off by a few nanometers, which works perfectly for the following theory. 262nm is very close to 280nm, the beginning of the UV range that arrives on Earth. 1050nm is a substantially deep Infrared wavelength, which are effecting plants too. I've been talking about how our Metal Halide bulb produces useful energy from 800nm all the way past 2450 nm, as does the Sun.

 

I think it's reasonable to assume and further explore this possibility: the actual range of wavelengths effecting (cannabis) plants is approximately 280nm through at least 1000nm, and Mother Nature's beautifully designed roadmap toward this precise range is simply the size of the tuned antenna that naturally occurs on the plant!

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If it's only a coincidence, it's a really shockingly precise one! That the tuned antenna frequency calculations of the trichome size just happen to match up with the relevant wavelengths of light spectrums that plants seem to use! I don't believe it is coincidence, as everything in Nature is "designed" as it is for a reason, wether or not we understand it yet.

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I was also curious if this holds true for other plants, as I believed it should. It turns out, a tomato plant further backs up this hypothesis, as it has the same size trichome (tuned antenna to the same frequencies of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet)

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Note to Researchers:

I understand these ideas may be a bit "far out" and hard to grasp, or easy to reject, as new scientific discoveries often are. I would love to encourage further research on this, and advise a few key points to researchers here as well. Many researchers are making conclusions about light which I know to be false based on my own research, and I'd like to point out a few limiting factors that MUST be avoided in order to experience the true effects of all light, visible and invisible, on plants. Plants given a limited synthetic diet are only receiving the bare minimum of ~42 known minerals necessary to grow a seemingly healthy plant. However, plants given a complex organic diet will be receiving hundreds of additional minerals and biologics, most of which aren't fully understood by science yet, but are producing much wider variability in the plants and allowing them to express their true potential in medicinal compounds. These can and should be used in a standardized scientific setting for studying cannabis and the effects of any input. A full light spectrum (including wideband IR, not produced by LEDs) seems to act in a similar manner and encourages the possibility of producing more of these novel cannabinoids, terpenes, etc. Additionally, multiple cultivars with unrelated parental genealogy must be studied. Many studies only look at 5 or 10 "strains" and often times they all share a same parent (GSC) which means they are extremely genetically similar. We need to look at a wide range of plants in order to make sure that genetics aren't a limiting factor for our research. Also, we need to be aware that just because we are able to produce a specific result, does not mean it applies across the board to the plant as a whole, because there are many factors which will change for other gardeners. Additionally, the use of CO2 versus the use of constant fresh air exchange seems to effect perceived quality, and it would be worth testing in both environments. As we don't fully yet understand light, I believe we do not fully understand air either, and plants are likely receiving some small effect from other compounds in the air, even if it's not as essential. Additional factors when studying light include flicker rate and overall spectral balance. I believe that no LED will achieve the same results as MH, because of the different spectral balance that cannot be matched perfectly, including the wideband UV and IR emissions from a good MH like ours. I am sure that Infrared, while it won't grow a plant on its own, is an essential component to light for the long term survival of plant species. Like other wavelengths, it works as part of a whole, and increases the effects of the visible and uv spectrums. If plants are grown and bred without Infrared for many generations, they may eventually lose their ability to grow properly in sunlight. I encourage researchers to prove my hypothesis on a deeper scientific level, as my observations about Infrared are potentially very important. A potential proper experiment would utilize either sunlight or metal halide, with and without a special glass which blocks IR but does not block UV and Visible or change the spectrum, and then identical plants would be grown organically under various conditions with and without IR to show that IR does indeed have influence on the plants, how they utilize nutrition, and most importantly, the compounds produced in their flowers!

 

Researchers are seeing similar effects in humans with infrared as well, discovering that it is important for so many functions within the body.

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A side note: It's possible that trichomes do more than just one thing, and other research suggests too that trichomes are actual semi permeable to water on their surface, something which happens frequently outdoors, and very rarely in an indoor garden. Who knows if trichomes absorbing (rain)water on their surface (and infrared acting on that water, as it does in plants and humans) is beneficial for the resin quality too? Infrared has been shown in recent research to create "EZ Water" which is a special type of structured water which also occurs within our bodies and is just beginning to be uncovered by science! There is so much to learn!

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Conclusion: Trichomes as a tuned antenna theory provides insight into the true range of active wavelengths that effect plants: ~280nm through 1000nm!