Moon gardening

Moon Gardening

Jaxom,

This is a massive subject with little scientific research, my own opinion is just because it can't be proved does not mean its wrong.

I will attempt to explain as i understand it....

If you practise lunar agriculture, that is planting by the moon, for best results it's important to choose both the correct phase of the moon and the most beneficial sign under which to plant, weed, cultivate, start compost bins or worm farms, or to harvest. Read on for a fuller explanation. But first, here's a brief explanation of the four quarter phases of the moon.

* From the New Moon until the first quarter is called the first quarter increasing (the moon is getting bigger)

* From the first quarter moon until the Full Moon is called the second quarter increasing

* From the Full Moon until the third quarter moon is called the third quarter decreasing (the moon is getting smaller)

* From the third quarter moon until the New Moon is called the fourth quarter decreasing.

Each quarter phase has its own benefits in Lunar Agriculture.


How it works...

The movement of the moon has a connection with the rising and falling of the tides, but all water is affected by the movement of the moon, not just large bodies of water such as rivers and seas. Both the sun and moon affect our waters through their magnetic pull but although the sun is much bigger than the moon, the moon is much closer to earth and so, its pull is greater. As well as controlling the large and small bodies of water on the Earth, the moon affects the water within it. When water is rising during the waxing or increasing moon, seeds sown and crops planted can more easily take up water than those sown in the waning or decreasing phase. So, you plant crops that thrive in dry conditions during the waning phase and above ground crops that needs lots of water during the waxing phase.

One of the twelve signs of the Zodiac dominates each day, and each sign appears at least once a month for a period of approximately 2.5 days. The twelve signs are each ruled by a planet, each of which also contributes (in a lesser way than the moon) to the effect not only on the rise and fall of water, but also on the tides in the air, or lunar winds. You may not be able to feel these winds, but they have an effect on our weather.

To go over the general principles again: As the full moon draws close in the phase of the waxing or increasing moon, fluids are drawn upwards. As the new moon draws close, in the waning or decreasing phase, fluids flow to the roots systems. In general we plant after the new moon in the first and second quarter increasing for leafy crops with shallow root systems, but during the third quarter decreasing for root crops and those with well-developed root systems such as trees. The fourth quarter decreasing phase is used for cultivation, soil preparation, weeding, extermination of pests and noxious growths, and for starting worm farms and compost heaps.

You can then go into zodiac signs etc.etc

Hope this gives you a little insight.....if you really wanna go for it get : Moon Gardening by RJ Harris

Thanks

Geordie
Many thanks for taking the time to write such a good peice of information on Moon Gardening. I have ordered "Moon Gardening" by RJ Harris a day or two ago as I would like to plant in tune with Mother Nature rather than fight to grow things. Each month I watch the moon as it waxes and wains. I try to avoid shopping during the full moon as I find other peoples tempers start to fly with out them being aware they are stressed along with every other person in the store including the poor sales staff who are trapped with out hope of escape. Years ago when manning the emergancy phone lines for a well known utility company I kept a diary to note how the cycle of the moon effected people's calls. During the four days surounding the full moon, calls came in thick and fast but at the time of the new moon there was peace all around!
If the moon seems to have that much sway on people who are not mentaly in tune with the changes I bet the differences in the moon would have a big impact on plants that need water and light to survive. after all at full moon if I understand things correctly ... plants would have the most light and water in any 24 hour period than at any other time of the month.
I look forward to reading "Moon Gardening" by RJ Harris
Jax

Hip Hip Hooray

My book finally arrived today. I am now the proud owner of Moon Gardening by RJ Harris. It looks very interesting and I will dig in to it tonight for my bedtime reading.
I thought Amazon was never going to send it to me. I think the problem was that I also ordered the "Which? Guide to growing vegetables" which held up delivery. In the end Amazon sent just Moon Gardening by RJ Harris and told me the other book will follow on later. Now I just wonder if it will be in time for me to order the seeds that they recommend. Most seed orders need to be with the supplier by the end of January at the latest if you have a greenhouse and want early delivery to get a head start in the growing season.

I trust you will keep us up to speed with regular lunar updates once the growing season starts!

Geordie, you mentioning lunar updates made me think about a graphic I once saw on a web page that showed the phases of the moon as the month progressed each day.
Perhaps us here "Grapes" could also have a try at growing things using the Moon garden method to see if it works. I would think that we would also have to sow the same crop twice. Once in line with the advice and once in the direct opposite manner to act as a control. I know that many people make multiple sowings during the year, so little would be lost by all sowing on and out of sync with the given advice. After all we would still be sowing all the seeds in the correct window of opportunity as stated on the packets in order to grow the various vegetables in the trial.
Just had another thought! What would be good on the Grapevine, is the weather forecast for the next few days with things like frost alerts, for the various parts of the UK.
OK now my brain is wizzing... I think its time to stop!
Jax

Weather forecasts is a great idea. We should all take part in the experiment of moon planting. Lets say one vegetable variety that everyone grows. Jaxom you can tell us all when to plant and then we can all report back on the results.

Sounds good

This sounds good, I do outdoor tomatoes, so would be interested if this would work with them as they tend to be hit and miss.

Andrewo

its like gardeners world, weather forecasts, plant trials and we even have our own expert - Georgie!
Seriously, im up for that. i have always been a bit curious about this stuff. How about we start it in spring? tomatoes sound good as most people grow them. Catriona

Moon

This would be a fun article in GYO. Regardless of that, I'm definately up for any trials never get any of the gardeners world trials (too few seeds and too many going after them) but I have the seeds, I have the earth, let's get down and trial with the moon!

Andrewo

what type of Vegetables to folk want to grow?

There are a number of types of vegetables in the book I think that there are the following - Beans, beetroot, carrot, lettuce, onion, parsnip, pea, rhubarb, potato and strawberries.
What should I concentrate on reading and forwarding the basic info on first?
The book is 250 pages long and that means a bit of reading and summarising to carry out. having said that you can order R.J Harris's book on the following places.Really Useful Books
amazon
I know that R.J Harris has a web page that may also help. It can be found at
moon gardening

Lettuce

Shame its not got tomatoes. I think lettuce would be a good start, its an easy crop and we can all try different varieties.

Andrewo

The only problem with lettuce is the slugs! The little devils left our lettuce alone this year but normally we have a fight on our hands. Beans are pretty simple to grow and I always have a good crop. Strawberries are already established and so is rhubarb. Potato yield will vary according to how much water you give the plants. Beetroot is simple to grow. Parsnips are supposed to be difficult to germinate (although I don't have any problems). Really we need an above ground crop so that we can see the results developing.

The difficulty with something like lettuce is other than weight how do we compare crop success? A crop that produces a number of items could be easier, for instance courgettes or tomatoes.

I might email gyo and ask if we could have an article on moon growing in the mag. Maybe they could run the experiment as well? That way we could get more people involved.

Good idea

Yes that is a good idea, I think you're right, it has to beans or peas, something that can be measured easily. Question is do we all go for the same variety or just do our own? We would also have to have a control which was planted when the seed packet told you to do so. Who wants to be control?

This would be good fun - no one has really looked into moon phases and the effects on growing - the ancients used it and if it's good enough for them...

Andrewo