Lunar planting

[A&A]

They swear by it over here Susie. The year before last we were busy planting garlic when one of the old boys wandered past on the road.

"What are you planting" he said.
"Garlic."
"Oh - it'll surely fail - the moon isn't right."
"Whatever", I grumbled under my breath.

When we went to harvest it, it was rubbish - haha.

[Green Aura]

I love it and swear it works - I only tried it a bit before moving and haven't managed to get back in the swing, but I will do.

I've just pulled up the last of my mother's radishes - I found a few that were about 2-3" across Don't think I'll try eating them but I think she definitely got the right moon phase for planting those

[Millymollymandy]

I don't follow it at all but my monthly magazine has the details of what to do every day that month.

I just don't have the time to do the right thing on the right day and I'm sorry but I'm buggered if I'm going out on a day when it's chucking it down with rain just because it happens to be the 'right' day for sowing carrots or whatever. Or to postpone appointments/not see friends because 'I've got to transplant my lettuce today'.

I have generally pretty fabulous crops without bothering with it.

[grahamhobbs]

I thought I would give it a go this year, but then on looking into it just got too complicated, with different dates for different things eg. whether the seeds were for leaf vegetables or root veg, etc, etc, and then I discovered there appeared to be 2 completely contradictory biodynamic systems recommending different times of the moon cycle for the same veg. All too much for me.

I reckon I make about 300 sowings throughout the year, which on top of ful-time working, is complicated enough. Getting to sow them each on a specific day would be daunting, but I guess it could be done if I was organised in advance - but is there anyone out there that can explain a simple system to follow?

[Green Aura]

I don't think it need be that restricting MMM, each lunar month is split into 4 sections flower, fruit, root and leaf - so you've got 8 days to do each type. I'm sure you can take it much further than that, and then there's the whole Steiner bit that I don't do as my garden is vegan-organic(ish ).

[Millymollymandy]

I think the French one is different Maggie as I'm just looking at August's lunar calendar. I could have done leaves on 1st, 3rd, 11th, 19/20/21 or 28 or 30. Flowers there were only 5 days. So if I'd really wanted to get lettuce sown at the beginning of the month but I'd had something on to prevent me working in the garden on those two days I'd have had to wait a whole 8 days before I could have sown them, and if it had been raining that day I would have had to wait until the 19th, thereby my crop would have been 3 weeks behind what I'd originally planned.

It's not for me!

[grahamhobbs]

Green Aura, the calendars I've seen are not split into 4 equal segments but different numbers of days (and half and quarter days) for each of the 4 types and then these vary from month to month.

It reminds me of the start of Ramadan, when everyone has to wait on tenterhooks for the Mular to pronounce when the moon has risen (as if this is a personal opinion and not a fact that science can accurately predict) and then the Bengladeshi listen to the Saudi mullahs but the Turks go with the Morrocan, so it can be different days here in East London.

So would be very happy to learn about a simple, straightforward system that I could plan in advance.

Also any references to a system that has been scienfically monitored?

[Green Aura]

I bought a moon planting diary from the RHS some years ago. The blurb at the front was all very interesting but when I got to the calendar bit it was all pretty straightforward - I felt a bit ripped off.

But you're right it wasn't in full eight day blocks - I forgot the no planting bit. I found this which seems to me an easy way and thanks to Keith for it!

Moon Planting Examples...
A list of when and what to plant.

First quarter planting, or the time from the new moon to about half-full.
Plant annuals with above-ground yields, particularly leafy plants which produce their seed outside the fruit.
1st Qtr. Examples:
# asparagus cabbage, celery, endive, and spinach.

Second quarter planting, or the time from the half-full to the full moon.
Plant annuals that have above-ground yields which are vining and produce seed inside the fruit.
2nd Qtr. Examples:
# beans, peas, peppers, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers.

Third quarter planting, or from the full moon to half-full.
Plant biennials, perennials, bulb and root crops. Crops which are planted one season the produce yields the following year, trees, and shrubs.
3rd Qtr. Examples:
# onions, potatoes, rhubarb, grapes, winter wheat, and berries.

Fourth quarter planting, or from half-full to new moon.
4th Qtr. Examples:
# pull weeds, cultivate, destroy pests, and turn sod.

[Gert]

I must admit I've never tried this or even looked into it. If you think it makes a difference maybe I'll give it a go.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I do make and effort to follow lunar planting, simply because it provides a certain discipline for me. I will also be planting new fruit trees on the feast of St Catherine on Novevember 25th. I have no idea whether it makes a difference or not, but what the hell.

[Green Aura]

I think that's a large part of why I find the idea appealing RRE - if it get's me organised then all well and good. And it does seem to make some sense too, don't you think?

[MKG]

I think that's a large part of why I find the idea appealing RRE - if it get's me organised then all well and good. And it does seem to make some sense too, don't you think?

My first, unthinking, response would be no. But what do I know? Can anyone tell me what the whole idea is about?

Mike

EDIT: I hope it's not this ...

"Dr. Frank Brown of Northwestern University performed research over a ten-year period of time, keeping meticulous records of his results. He found that plants absorbed more water at the time of the full moon. He conducted his experiments in a laboratory without direct contact from the moon, yet he found that they were still influenced by it." (My Italics).

If so, I want to know exactly where that laboratory is.

[Green Aura]

Just Google "moon planting" or "lunar gardening" or some such similar thingumibobby.

It's closely related to Rudolf Steiners biodynamic gardening.

At it's simplest, the moon has a similar effect on the land as the sea. So at times when it's waxing, it's better to plant one thing, and waning, something else. That's the bit that makes most sense. Then it gets complicated by which doctrine - synodic and other gobbledygook I've never delved into too much because it makes my head hurt - and they all seem to disagree with one another

So, as with the rest of my life, I try to keep it simple

[A&A]

Essentially, I think the theory is based on the fact that if the moon has the power to shift the oceans & plants are essentially full of water (especially leaves) then why should we assume that it can't possibly affect plants. There's a logic there - but a lot of conflicting ways of applying it.

ETA (edited to add ;) ) Ahh, cross-posted. It's explained better in the post above.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I think that's a large part of why I find the idea appealing RRE - if it get's me organised then all well and good. And it does seem to make some sense too, don't you think?

Well, plants do sense gravity; they can work out which way is up and which way is down without needing to follow light, and that is easy enough to demonsrate.

But gravity is a weak force: we only notice the moon's influence on oceans because there is such a huge mass of water there to interact with it. In smaller bodies of water (smaller seas, lakes and ponds) the effect is very difficult to observe, so the effect on the water in a plant stem is miniscule, certainly when compared to factors such as temperature, salinity or even air pressure.

Does that mean that the phase of the moon has no effect? No idea. Certainly it does seem to influence behaviour and biology in some animals. Human menstrual cycle corresponds to the lunar cycle, even if it doesn't synchronyse with it, which may be a co-incidence but may not be.

Science's biggest achievement as far as I am concerned is that is demonstrates just how much remains to be discovered. On that basis I am quite prepared to keep an open mind and to carry on doing things because they feel right and appear to yield good results without worrying too much about why they work.

Just call me Mr Ostrich