The Unique Vintage Lamp That Combines Function, Style & A Green Thumb

Stylish statement lighting adds personality to any room. Asymmetrical designs or lamps that feature unusual patterns are among the most popular. However, you might be looking for something just a bit more eccentric. If so, you may be interested in the Magic Plantern. It might be safe to assume that this vintage plant-powered lamp from the 1970s is unlike anything you have ever seen before. To use this lamp, you must add soil and plant inside the base. After installing the plant, you can turn the lamp on or off by touching a leaf.

This creative lighting idea even helps you keep track of your plant maintenance responsibilities, because it will stop illuminating when the soil inside of the base becomes dry. You must then water the plant to get the lamp to continue operating properly. With all of these features, it makes you wonder if there really is some magic involved with this lamp. While this is an exciting idea, there is, of course, a science behind how the product works.

Advertisements for the Magic Plantern do not disclose the scientific explanation of how the product works, however some Reddit users made their guesses in a thread discussing the topic. "I would guess that the circuit connects and monitors capacitance of the plant and the change from body capacitance can be detected to trigger the light," one person wrote (via Reddit). Another user replied with their own theory. "This is a great guess and probably what I would go with, but a more fanciful and exciting guess for me would be that they're detecting the electrical signals that some plants generate in response to a touch stimulus," they explained.

Regardless of how this product works scientifically, many people are still interested enough to run to resellers to purchase their own, such as TikTok user @midcenturymillennial. Now that you've gotten the full run down on the Magic Planter, you might be interested in purchasing it to use as a fun alternative to overhead lighting. Before you head off to snag the lamp, you should know that it was sold in the '70s and '80s, but is no longer available for sale from the original manufacturer. Still, you can search for listings on online marketplaces like Etsy, where a yellow Vintage Magic Plantern is being sold for $100. You might want to keep an eye out on those websites if you would like to snag an original Magic Plantern lamp. However, you could also opt for a modernized planter lamp, such as The Original Planter Lamp, which is sold by Hadley for $340.