Lunar Planting...does it work?

[VirginVegGrower]

No worries.

I'm probably biased because I prefer to actually take time out, do the trials myself, publish the results and let them speak for themselves....rather than be a google warrior!

Me too and that's what gardens such as Ryton are about. Sip the tea and then say you prefer something else.

[King Carrot]

Astrological Signs of the Zodiac, Fertile Signs for Planting

Am I missing something?

The website above purports to advise on moon gardening and the quote below is lifted from their sage advice.......complete bunkum

How the astrological signs of the zodiac influence gardening
by the Moon
The Moon moves through the signs of the Zodiac in the heavens every couple of days. Different signs are associated with an element of earth, air, fire or water. When the Moon is in a water sign it is the most fertile time for planting. Different types of plants have favorite signs too, such as leafy plants prefer the water signs.The fertile water signs are Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio, and are best for planting above ground, leafy annuals.

Planting by the Signs
The Earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, are also very fertile and good for planting. The root is the part of the plant associated with earth signs, so it is especially good for planting root crops, or for transplanting to encourage root development.
__________________
First year on lotty and proud owner of an Aldi Blowaway

As well as moving across the background of stars at different times of its 28 day cycle, more significantly, the moon is at different positions in relation to the earth and the sun. One extremely visible result of this are the variances of the tides on which the moon and sun create the biggest influence. A less visible though just as powerful influence seems to be present in my other half, again in a mysterious 28 day cycle - all hail the wonders of the universe

[Nicos]

As you can imagine- I've done a fair bit of Googling on this!!!

Do I use that method?- nope
Why not??..well....

I have planted a few crops- beans/garlic/peas- following lunar planting and had decent crops- BUT I didn't plant any at other times to compare them- so I'd no idea if they'd done any better than they would have done.

My problem is that I've never really had time to apply myself to doing a comparison. Having worked ridiculously long hrs for years and bringing up a family , I've had to garden when time would allow- no matter what the weather/lunar date!

Lunar planting is a huge thing here in France. There are books and books about it- and planting diaries/calendars by the sides of tills in many shops.

Am I going to apply myself to it at some point?
Most definitely yes- (and I bet I'll kick myself for not doing it sooner) because I really would like it to work- who wouldn't want to improve their crop production using such a simple method???.

So yes- give it a try- why not????...and let us know how you get on!

[Flummery]

I don't do it. This is because I can never get my act in gear to do things on a certain day. This is my failing, not the method's failing. Like Nicos, I have never tried comparisons so I can't make a definitive conclusion. I sow my stuff - it grows. I don't know if it would grow better sown at a different time.

[arpoet]

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

[salilah]

Has anyone compared results from the different systems? I was gently amused to see that Biodynamic said don't sow tomatoes, but Synodic (?) said sow tomatoes!
If you were starting out, which of the two would you choose? I guess you've got to go with one or the other, as you can't really mix them!
thanks
S

[Kristen]

Astrological Signs of the Zodiac, Fertile Signs for Planting

Am I missing something?

The website above purports to advise on moon gardening and the quote below is lifted from their sage advice.......complete bunkum

How the astrological signs of the zodiac influence gardening
by the Moon
The Moon moves through the signs of the Zodiac in the heavens every couple of days. Different signs are associated with an element of earth, air, fire or water. When the Moon is in a water sign it is the most fertile time for planting. Different types of plants have favorite signs too, such as leafy plants prefer the water signs.The fertile water signs are Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio, and are best for planting above ground, leafy annuals.

Planting by the Signs
The Earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, are also very fertile and good for planting. The root is the part of the plant associated with earth signs, so it is especially good for planting root crops, or for transplanting to encourage root development.

"Am I missing something? "

Yes, I think you might be. I have no knowledge on the subject, never tried it, have read a bit about it, and I doubt very much that I could find the time to sow / act at the right lunar time.

So let me assume that it does work.

"complete bunkum"

Seems like they are just relating Astrology to the moon going round the earth and in doing so it passing through the various zodiac constellations. If the moons position relative to the earth has an influence on raising plants then it seems reasonable to me than when it is in Constellation-X it has Effect-Y.

I don't think it requires any faith in Astrology, or is necessarily in any way related to it, except that it can be a convenient metric to remember what-effect and when. The Astrology-faithful may choose to put more weight behind the alignment of the two of course. I get nodding-lip-service to some of my views, but few die-hard converts!

Having said that I would expect there to be influence other than just which quadrant the moon is in depending on how far round our orbit of the sun the earth is - the moon being aligned with Constellation-X now, which lets say is behind the Sun, is not quite the same as in six months time - when the sun will be in completely the other direction. But then I won't be sowing Broad Beans in six months time, so it may be a moot point - is there a different lunar calendar for the Souther Hemisphere which would bear that out?

"When the Moon is in a water sign it is the most fertile time for planting"

So there are some Water Signs in Astrology, that happen to correspond to the most fertile times in the lunar planting calendar? That would make them easy to remember - except that I personally would never be able to remember either that a particular Astrological was a Water / Earth / Fire Sign, or even that the moon was, today, in Constellation-X - I would need N-days-after-full-moon charts instead (which I presume is what a Lunar Planting Calendar actually is) ...

Summary: all I read into this is that the Lunar planting Calendar also maps onto the Astrological one

[Capsid]

I can't see the logic in the argument that the moon affects the tides therefore it pulls on the water so at certain times the soil is saturated. First, the gravitational effect on water in the soil is countered by the surface tension effects of the soil particles. Second, the whole principle would be ruined when it rains (which happens a lot in the UK) and when it is sunny the soil dries out (which doesn't happen enough).

[King Carrot]

I can't see the logic in the argument that the moon affects the tides therefore it pulls on the water so at certain times the soil is saturated. First, the gravitational effect on water in the soil is countered by the surface tension effects of the soil particles. Second, the whole principle would be ruined when it rains (which happens a lot in the UK) and when it is sunny the soil dries out (which doesn't happen enough).

I can only see the logic that the moon in alignment with the sun would create the greatest amount of lift or pull on the water table as it would on any body of water. This lift or pull can be measured in meters in the ocean during spring tides compared to the lift or pull present at neap tides when the sun and moon are cancelling each other out.

[Newton]

I can see that the pull of the tide is affected by the moon. Less so how water content within soil is affected because as pointed out Capsid there appear to be more external influences like rainfall and drought that will definitely have more of an effect on growth.

I note the astronomical reference to the zodiac as a mapping reference and I can see some merit in this argument.

Unfortunately I do not have the inclination to try a trial myself but if it can be proven to work then I might jump on the chance to be converted!

[Kristen]

I haven't read about tidal forces on water in the soil ...

Growth is effected by chemicals that are sensitive to gravity (forgotten the name - Geotropism maybe?)

Might that be impacted by Lunar Calendar

[zazen999]

You mean like my garlic trial.....

All garlics in the soil 6 months, 5 planted at each time, over 4 different 6 month periods

moon
Results - 223, 4405, 1479, 2954 % Increase in weight from the clove to the final

Non-moon
Results - 169, 382, 1264, 1386 % increase in weight from the clove to the final

All planted in the same bed, nothing changed apart from the dates sown and harvested. Cloves were all put in a bag and pulled out randomly, weighed and numbered.

The 4 periods were sept-mar, oct-apr, nov-may, dec-june/jan to july

More detailed results and photos of the final harvests on my blog, 2009.

[Capsid]

Nice study zazen,

Could you perhaps post the raw data of the actual before and after weights and then I can do a statistical analysis to show that one group is significantly different from the other?

[Capsid]

I can only see the logic that the moon in alignment with the sun would create the greatest amount of lift or pull on the water table as it would on any body of water. This lift or pull can be measured in meters in the ocean during spring tides compared to the lift or pull present at neap tides when the sun and moon are cancelling each other out.

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.

[zazen999]

Nice study zazen,

Could you perhaps post the raw data of the actual before and after weights and then I can do a statistical analysis to show that one group is significantly different from the other?

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