I heard about a technique that sets gardening activities in rhythm with the moon 's phase. Sounds pretty awesome. "The moon controls ocean tides, influences the groundwater tables beneath our feet and the movement of fluids in plants. Even continental land masses are said to rise 2 to 3 feet in elevation with the passage of the moon. Understanding the effects, and timing your gardening chores accordingly, is the basis of moon gardening." This site provides some good information. Planting by the Phases of the Moon Has anyone ever looked into this or noticed any difference?
I germinate by moon-phase. I put seeds in rockwool the day prior to the new moon. I'd like to say i've had better germ rates/faster rooting... but I can't, as I have never sowed seeds at anyother time. But I can usually rely that I will see above ground growth @ 85degrees, in about 1-2 days.
Moon Phase...? Thats my excuse for the germination to take so long, or if anything else fails, Oh!!! I say, the moon is out of phase....lol "V"
I recently germinated at the full moon and had 100% success. The first couple of days you could see them growing by the hour, it was insane. I just found an amazing piece of software called Stellarium. You can watch the moon travel through the constellations and combined with the information here: Lunar Rhythms related to Farming Activities you can put together some interesting predictions about plant growth. It looks like the best days for harvest are today and again around April 28th. May 1st seems like a perfect time to fertilize as it's a few days before the moon is in full phase and in the constellation virgo. I'm so excited to make the moon a part of strategy in growing. I'll keep you guys posted if I notice any intriguing results.
i recently just put some of my plants into flower (yesterday on 4/20 ) apparently the waxing phase is supposed to "speed up the growth of flowers" it says not to do anything on the new moon, but it takes a few days for the plants to adjust from 18/6 to 12/12, so....... we'll see what happens -OSUB
I know more then a few homegrown organic peeps that only take cuttings when the moon says its good to. Rooted clones every time. You just gotta believe I guess
Cool. I wonder if it's gravity pulling upwards (when the moon is above us) or the extra light reflected off the moon that makes them grow more. I guess a simple test is growing indoors (where there is no moon light, but the moon's gravity definitely still exists). The next step is.....if gravity affects plants that much, how can we manipulate that to make our plants grow even more? I don't think we can create gravitational fields yet. Maybe hang a gigantic block of cement over our plants? Oh god if it fell though... No...maybe a mini one way never ending particle accelerator spinning a bunch of atoms at near speed of light (more speed = more mass/gravity)? ...it would be nice. Imagine what they'll be growing cannabis with in a 100 years (if we don't die off by then lol).
Planting with Moon Phases is some real shit. Ancient Hawaiians (as well as other Native Peoples) had a deep understanding of the moon and its relation to farming/fishing. Nowadays, people are way too out of touch with nature to pay attention to it, all they do is find some expensive bottled shit and feed it to their plants. My girlfriend is taking a course here and she showed me a very interesting printout the other day with a breakdown of the moon phases and its relation to the hawaiian way of life. I need to bug her again to email it to me.
I could see the potential for the gravitational pull of the moon to possibly affect plant growth. But the moon phases are separate from the gravitational effects of the moon -- we have two high tides and two low tides every day, whereas a particular moon phase happens only once a month (lunar month, that is). The moon phase is simply the effect of the moon's position and the earth's shadow on how much sunlight can be reflected off the moon back to earth. You have multiple high tides and multiple low tides during each moon phase. Possibly I could see the amount of light reflected off the moon having an impact on established outdoor plants, but a seed under the soil or in a paper towel or a full plant indoors would not be affected by how much of the moon is being blocked by the earth's shadow.
Sorry, but your current understanding of the moon and tides is flawed, it is more complex than you think. First, the moon phase is NOT determined by the shadow casted from earth. Look at a moon phase chart and you will see. New moons are caused when the moon and sun are on the same side of earth and all we can see is the unlit side of the moon, which is opposite of your current understanding of the moon. Tides are affected by many factors, the two greatest being the sun and the moon, but they are affected by all kinds of things which is why we never experience two identical tides heights in a day. Here in Hawaii, we usually experience tidal differences of only around 1-2ft, other places can have a difference of 20feet. There are also places that experience only one high and one low tide a day. Not to get off topic here but I'm telling you man, ancient hawaiians were on some other shit. In an age, with no internet, no access to compasses or other navigational devices, nothing but their observations of the night sky and ocean movements, hawaiians were able to navigate thousands of miles across the pacific in wooden canoes. There is still a core group of hawaiians who practice this traditional way of navigation and strive to pass this knowledge on to the next generation and I bet if you were to ask any one of them if the moon phases had a profound effect on farming, every single one of them would say yes.
from what I remember of Astro 101&2 tides and phases of the moon are two different entities. first point. sure one does effect the other..but they are apples and oranges, none the less. only 3 factors deal with moon phase... location of the sun ( never moves when compared to Solar System), location of the moon and the location of the earth ( which do move in relation to the rest of the Solar System). if you add em all up only leaves one possible reason for moon phases ..shadows. post all the picture charts up you want dude, Toasty is right on that issue. now as per tidal forces, those are numerous. but the biggest is simply the relation of how far away from Earth, both the Moon and the Sun, are in any given 12 hour period. TIDES HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING ON.... "MOON PHASES" which this thread is about. Back OT.. My mom used to swear by seeds planted on the full moon, and take cuttings taken on the new moon .. never ever seen a difference personally, even after trying it both ways for 9 months, every month... Wharf EDIT : the reason for "indigenous tribes" to rely on moon phases was to be sure what season it is. kinda goes to shit with the Gregorian Calendar.
yes, i agree moon phases are just shadows but the phase of the moon is an indicator of it's position relative to the sun. Therefore a new moon with the sun and moon on the same side of the earth is gonna have a much stronger gravitational effect on the Earth, than a full moon with the sun and moon on opposite side of the earth, which is why we experience higher/lower than normal tides on the new moon. And im sure the effect differs as the earth moves closer and further to the sun in its orbit. Obviously, tides have no effect on moon phases. I was just trying to correct Toasty's statement that the moon phase is determined by "Earth's shadow" being casted on to the moon, which is not true at all.
Valid point please read source United States Naval Observatory pretty damn sure we are "splitting this hair". Peace and lots of smoke ( obviously 4 me ) Wharf
Ancient peoples might have planted and or harvested under a full moon simply because it would be a lot of work and might take them in to the night. Just a theory. The idea that an idea works just because ancient civilizations did it is fallacious.
Maybe in regards to planting with moon phases, but you can't dismiss all of our ancestor's teachings just because they are "ancient." People were much higher thinkers back then before all the distractions that came after the industrial revolution. Organic, multi-crop farming is a good example of ancient practices that should not be dismissed just because we have all the technology of modern day agriculture and genetically modified plants.
