Between the First and Second World Wars, the British Government quietly funded research into plant electrification, conducting experiments in near secrecy. These trials explored everything from electrified soil to atmospheric ionisation, hoping to unlock new efficiencies in crop production. While many of these efforts faded into obscurity, they laid the groundwork for later investigations into bioelectricity and plant signalling, fields that are now central to ecological and agricultural science.

Electroculture’s appeal wasn’t purely scientific. It also tapped into a broader cultural fascination with progress, modernity, and the idea that nature could be “improved” through technology. Diagrams of electrified greenhouses and copper coils wrapped around tree trunks appeared in gardening manuals and popular science journals, often accompanied by bold claims and little empirical evidence. Yet the persistence of these ideas speaks to a deeper human impulse: the desire to connect with nature not just passively, but actively, to intervene, enhance, and understand.