Intoduction Into Gardening by The Lunar Phases
Written by - Kaitlynn from MIgardener
Before fertilizers and pesticides it was only us, our gardens, and our awareness of the natural world. Many gardening traditions have been passed down over the years. Today we are going to look at the wondrous world of moon phase gardening. For generations, people all over the world have sworn by this method, some with scientific evidence and some based purely on the consistent results of their harvests.
The key ideas behind moon phase gardening are these: The gravitational pull of the moon has an effect on the geotropism (the upwards and downwards growth) of our plants, and the moon pulls the tides of the oceans, so it must also pull up water into our soil and speed up the germination process.
Here are the four steps to give this method a whirl:
New Moon
What Happens: During the New Moon, lunar gravity pulls water up through soil. This causes seeds to germinate faster.
To Do: Plant varieties that grow to bear fruit out of the ground with seeds outside of the fruit. Ex. grains, flowers, celery, and greens.
2nd Quarter Moon
What Happens: Lunar gravity slows down during this phase, but the balance of moonlight makes for healthy leaf development.
To Do: Plant varieties that grow above ground that bear their seeds inside. Ex. pumpkins, gourds, cucumbers, and peppers.
Plant two days before the full moon for maximum moisture.
Full Moon
What Happens: Lunar gravitational pull is at its peak. Moisture is pulled up into the soil, and moonlight puts energy into the roots.
To Do: Plant perennials, root crops, bulbs, or transplant during this phase. Ex. Carrots, turnips, and tulips. Harvest herbs during a full moon, the essential oils will be strongest during this phase.
3rd and 4th Quarter Moon
What Happens: Moonlight loses it's brightness during these phases and lunar gravity weakens.
To Do: Rest your garden in this phase. Fertilize, prune, and harvest.
Whether or not you ascribe to this particular method, it's exciting to explore the many roots of, well...our roots! What are your thoughts on this method? If you haven't before, would you be willing to give it a try?
In the comments below, let us know if you liked this post and any other subject suggestions you'd like to read about in the future!
Tomatoes? 2nd quarter?
Yes, yes, yes! Thank you for this great info. I was looking for what to plant when during moon phases last night and was having a hard time finding concise info. Your info is concise! Last night I did my moon phases chart in a spreadsheet for the whole year. I am color coding my chart so I know what can be planted when- for example FULL MOON is brown ink for root crops, red are the resting days, and so on. I’ve also printed out the 12 months for 2023 so that I can color pencil in a chart of what can be planted on what days or days of rest. So that root crop days would be brown, resting days red, and so on. Then I can write in what I planted on a specific date.
This post was very interesting to me. I’ve heard about the lunar phases and gardening in accordance with them, but never really paid all that much attention to them. After reading this just now, right here, I think I’m going to pick a bed or two next season to do this with. Thanks!
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