1. The claim is not true since there is no validated instance of trees dying of cursing except for a mention by Robert Fulghum in his 1988 book 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten'. Robert Fulghum also does not know the source of the claim nor whether it is practiced in Solomon islands.

In the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging. If a tree is too large to be felled with an ax, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (Can't lay my hands on the article, but I swear I read it.) Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The tree dies and falls over. The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works. Source: Yelling from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

2. An experiment by the Mythbusters found that separate soundtracks of loving praise and cruel insults played on repeat in two separate greenhouses produced no difference in plant quality of both greenhouses.

Some plant enthusiasts think that showering seedlings with sunlight, water and healthy soil isn't enough. To really make their roots sing, these backyard botanists believe they can sweet talk their gardens into growing better. To see whether kind words could really yield fertile results, the skeptical MythBusters procured 60 pea plants and divided them into three greenhouse groups. Then, they recorded two soundtracks — one of loving praise and one of cruel insults — and played them on repeat in two separate greenhouses. A third greenhouse remained mum as an experimental control.To give the myth a fighting chance of flourishing, the team charted the plants' growth over 60 days. Afterward, the MythBusters determined the winning greenhouse by comparing plant masses from the three groups. To their surprise, the silent greenhouse performed poorest, producing lower biomass and smaller pea pods than the other two. Although there was no difference in plant quality between the nice greenhouse and the mean greenhouse, the soundtracks seemed to produce a positive effect in both. Source: Talking to Plants

1. The claim is not true, since there is no validated instance of trees dying of cursing except for a mention by Robert Fulghum in his 1988 book 'All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten'. Robert Fulghum also does not know the source of the claim nor whether it is practiced in Solomon islands or not.

In the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging. If a tree is too large to be felled with an ax, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (Can't lay my hands on the article, but I swear I read it.) Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The tree dies and falls over. The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works.

Source: Yelling from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

2. An experiment by the Mythbusters found that separate soundtracks of loving praise and cruel insults played on repeat in two separate greenhouses produced no difference in plant quality of both greenhouses.

Some plant enthusiasts think that showering seedlings with sunlight, water and healthy soil isn't enough. To really make their roots sing, these backyard botanists believe they can sweet talk their gardens into growing better. To see whether kind words could really yield fertile results, the skeptical MythBusters procured 60 pea plants and divided them into three greenhouse groups. Then, they recorded two soundtracks — one of loving praise and one of cruel insults — and played them on repeat in two separate greenhouses. A third greenhouse remained mum as an experimental control.To give the myth a fighting chance of flourishing, the team charted the plants' growth over 60 days. Afterward, the MythBusters determined the winning greenhouse by comparing plant masses from the three groups. To their surprise, the silent greenhouse performed poorest, producing lower biomass and smaller pea pods than the other two. Although there was no difference in plant quality between the nice greenhouse and the mean greenhouse, the soundtracks seemed to produce a positive effect in both.

Source: Talking to Plants