Article Written By: Sue Both
GardenShop’s GardenGuru
‘Planting by the Moon’ may sound like an old-wives tale, but it certainly isn’t! The moon has a huge influence on all natural bodies of water on our beautiful planet. This influence is most commonly seen in the tides of the oceans. As plants consist of about 90% water, it stands to reason that the moon would also have an influence on the growth patterns of plants.
New Moon: Lunar gravity pulls water up, causing seeds to swell and burst. This force, coupled with gradually increasing moonlight, creates balanced root and leaf growth.
2nd Quarter Moon: Gravitational pull is less but the moonlight is still strong. This will create healthy leaf growth and is a great time to plant and fertilize leafy plants.
Full Moon: Gravitational pull and moonlight will be waning from the point of full moon and energy will be drawing dow. Thus, this is a great time to plant root crops, like carrots. It is also a good time to transplant and divide perennial crops.
4th Quarter Moon: In this period, there is less gravitational pull and light. It is a resting phase and so a good time to harvest, fertilize, prune and transplant.
By using the lunar cycle we can improve Soil Moisture, invigorate roots, stimulate leaf growth and improve seed germination.