Does tuning in to the Holmes show stunt your growth? According to a Whangarei schoolboy's experiment with tomatoes, yes.
The theory that the Holmes show stunted plant growth is one of many fantastic facts and fanciful fallacies revealed at the Northland Science and Technology Fair this week.
The "Holmes phenomenon" was uncoveredby Whangarei Boys' High School student Kevin Silver.
The Year 10 student set out to prove his grandmother's belief that talking or playing music to plants enhanced their growth.
Tomato seedlings were given 30 minutes of exposure each day to rock'n'roll, country and western, classical, or to TV One's Holmes show. A control plant was kept in silence.
The Holmes plant started off with a hiss and roar - second only to the control plant at the end of the third week.
However, its spurt petered out by the end of the seven-week-long experiment.
The short-statured Holmes plant ended last, 6cm shorter than the control plant.
The exhibit is one of 133 on display to the public until Friday.
Winners compete at the national science and technology fair in Auckland at the end of the year.
