Lunar Planting...does it work?

[Alison]

Blimey - this one's got a bit heated! As said above there have been lots of discussions on this and you'll never get full agreement. What I do know though is that I don't have the freedom to be able to plant etc on certain days / times so there's no point in me trying to do a trial or going for it full scale, it wouldn't fit in with my lifestyle. That's not to say that it won't work and you'll certainly not do any harm by trying it out - although, like most things, if you get too evangelical about it them you'll annoy the hell out of the people around you

[VirginVegGrower]

Who's getting evangelical?

There are different forms of lunar planting and the four phases of the moon are simplest to follow and not limiting.
There is no wrong and right with regards to what an individual does, but I would urge those who are critical to refrain from poking fun.
For those who are genuinely interested - try it, you could prove or disprove.

[VirginVegGrower]

Well, i am baffled by all this....
I sow seeds and plant out when conditions are right and the weather is being kind to my old bones.
If lunar planting works for you, then so beit.. if your long dead granny whispers in your dream, plant your beans at 2 am next monday, then so beit.
Me, i will carry on with my sowing and planting on my good days when the weather and soil conditions feel right.
Roger

Live and let live

[Alison]

Who's getting evangelical?

There are different forms of lunar planting and the four phases of the moon are simplest to follow and not limiting.
There is no wrong and right with regards to what an individual does, but I would urge those who are critical to refrain from poking fun.
For those who are genuinely interested - try it, you could prove or disprove.

It's OK, wasn't aiming that at anybody here, just know how people can get when they firmly believe in things - have a colleague at work who's been banging on about something all day today so am going to throttle him soon . Suppose I'm vaguely curious but too short of time and not bothered enough to be able to try it. Interesting reading about experiences though.

[VirginVegGrower]

It's OK, wasn't aiming that at anybody here, just know how people can get when they firmly believe in things - have a colleague at work who's been banging on about something all day today so am going to throttle him soon . Suppose I'm vaguely curious but too short of time and not bothered enough to be able to try it. Interesting reading about experiences though.

Just throttle him and blame it on the full moon affecting your "cycle" - see earlier comment!
I am trialling it - a bit like Zazen999 as I am intrigued. I don't weave jumpers out of my own hair or wear hemp sandals am perfectly normal honestly!

[Alison]

I don't weave jumpers out of my own hair or wear hemp sandals am perfectly normal honestly!

I swept up enough cat hair from a blanket in the spare room at the weekend to knit a whole new cat - briefly contemplated it as a secondary career!

[zazen999]

That's not to say that it won't work and you'll certainly not do any harm by trying it out - although, like most things, if you get too evangelical about it them you'll annoy the hell out of the people around you

I totally agree; but even though my trials did show a marked improvement - I still only sow/pot on/pot out/harvest as and when! Because that's life these days.

If I was a farmer in the dim and distant past, I might be able to do whatever on the correct day - but when I get time to do things, that's when they get done.

[VirginVegGrower]

I swept up enough cat hair from a blanket in the spare room at the weekend to knit a whole new cat - briefly contemplated it as a secondary career!

Like it - so funny. I want to see the pictures when you do

[King Carrot]

I don't think that the moon/sun gravitation can affect the water table. Everything is pulled including the soil, why would the water in the soil be moved separately from the soil itself?

The tides move because there is nothing to stop the water moving; in soil the water is stuck around the soil particles by surface tension.

I'd question whether moisture content in the soil could be compared to the actual water table. I would think surface tension would have less influence on the greater body of water in the water table and the mass of water and any surroundings would come into play aswell.

I've had a look on the net and I can't find anything either way that I can easily understand without going on a crash course in very serious physics and as I didn't happen to inherit the family brain cell either I'm happy to stick to my version of life, the universe and everything.

[Newton]

Who's hair do you use then?

[BilboWaggins]

Deleted: wrong thread

[VirginVegGrower]

I almost don't like to ask, because this might give those who want to re-route this thread another path to go down, but I'll ask anyway 'cos I want to know: does anyone who follows a lunar planting schedule also use the Biodynamic "preparations".

I've planted according to a lunar calendar in the past and had excellent results in terms of germination and quality of plants but I've yet to try the additives for making compost and so on.

Bilbo suggest you direct your question at those on the Lunar Planting - What have you sown sticky.

[Capsid]

I have done, it's all on the blog.

I ran some statistics and assuming the start weights are the same then your GE harvest is significantly heavier than the GC and GX harvests but not GZ. The GA harvest was significantly less weight than all the others. But I'm not sure I ran the correct analysis.

I don't know which is moon and which is not moon. Can you tell me which is which?

[zazen999]

No - the start weights aren't the same!

You have to compare

A to V
B to W
C to X
D to Y [but Y didn't get planted due to frozen ground so D was discounted]
E to Z

They are detailed on the blog pages.

Overall...this was the plan

The Linear Legume: Garlic Moon Trial

[Capsid]

No - the start weights aren't the same!

You have to compare

A to V
B to W
C to X
D to Y [but Y didn't get planted due to frozen ground so D was discounted]
E to Z

They are detailed on the blog pages.

Overall...this was the plan

The Linear Legume: Garlic Moon Trial

Ok, I couldn't find the weights for GV and GW.

For GC v GX and GE v GZ there's no difference in final weights, but I may have analysed them with the wrong test.