It is believed that the moon’s gravitational pull extends beyond Earth’s oceans, affecting the moisture in the soil, seeds, and plants. Some gardeners utilize this timing to strategically plan various gardening activities.
Gardening by Moon Phase
During the waxing moon (from new moon to full moon), plant annuals, crops that need to be seeded anew each year, and those that produce their yeild above the ground. During the waning moon (from full moon to new moon), plant biennials, pereniials, and bulb and root plants. As a rule, these are plants that produce below the ground.
These are not hard and fast divisions. If you can’t plant during hte first quarter, plant during the secon, and vice versa. There are many plants that seem to do equally well planted in either quarter, such as watermelon, hay, and cereals and grains.
FIRST QUARTER (WAXING). The first quarter begins with the new moon. Plant annuals that produce their yeild above the ground and are generally of the leafy kind that produce their seed outside their fruit. Examples are asparagus, broccoli, brussesl sprouts, parsley, and spinach. Cucumbers an exception, as they do best in the first quarter rather than the second, even thought the seeds are inside the fruit. Also in hte first quarter, plant cereals and grains.
SECOND QUARTER (WAXING): Plant annuals htat produce their yield above ground and are generally the viney types that produce their seed inside the fruit. Examples include beans, eggplant, melons, peas, peppers, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes.
THIRD QUARTER (WANING): The third quarter begins with the full moon. Plant biennials, perennials, and bulb and root plants. Also plant trees, shrubs, berries, beets, carrots, onions, parnsips, peanuts, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, strawberries, turnips, winter wheat, and grapes.
FOURTH QUARTER (WANING): This is the best time to cultivate, turn sod, pull weeds, and destroy pests of all kinds, especially when the moon is in the barren signs of Aries, Virgo, Gemini, Aquarius, and Sagittarius.