Moon Phases

Hey I remember seeing some posts about planting according to moon cycles and I was just curious as to what peoples' thoughts are regarding this outdoor technique. Also, If you can debunk it please do so, as I have no personal evidence involving the moon cycles. Plus, for those of you who use it, how do you plant accordingly? Thanks.

Marked for subscription, I've never heard of this.

yeah heard some old timers mention it before but i'm not real clear on what it is.
P@ssw0rd

Well I googled it and this is one of the first links with information I found. Check it out.

Growing By The Phases of the Moon


Superior Cannabis gardens are what gardeners want for their efforts, and planting by the phases of the Moon makes this possible. Seeds germinate faster. Plants are hardier and more disease-resistant. They blossom sooner and bear more fruit. Just as importantly, they better resist the stress of harsh weather, drought and insect infestation.

Naturally, good gardening techniques must still be adhered to. Gardens need be watered, pruned, mulched, hoed, weeded and fertilized. If you have an outside or in side cannabis garden, paying attention to the Moon phases may be the easiest part of your cannabis gardening experience but the one with the biggest rewards.

Gardening by the moon phases is all a matter of timing. Since we are able to anticipate the phases, we can plan ahead and maximize the connection between the solar system and biological cycles to gain optimum results in the cannabis garden.

The Moon symbolizes emotions, instincts, habits and routine. It describes the ways in which we feel most nurtured and secure. The Moon also reflects the public mood as it changes signs every two to two and half days.

The Moon travels monthly through each of the 12 signs of the Zodiac, staying approximately 2 and a half days in each sign. As it does so it forms an angular relationship with the Sun that we call a Phase of the Moon. Phase actually means the angle between Moon, Earth and Sun. Moon orbits the Earth and the Earth orbits the Sun. It is the Earth's orbit that defines the ecliptic which is divided symbolically into the Zodiac.

First of all, phases occur in two stages - Waxing and Waning. The Moon is Waxing - growing - during these phases: New Moon | Crescent Moon | First quarter Moon | Gibbous Moon

It is Waning - shrinking - during these phases: Full Moon | Disseminating | Second Quarter | Balsamic

As a general rule of thumb when the Moon is waxing, plants develop leaves and above ground systems, when it is waning plants develop their root systems. Planting leafy crops such as cannabis that grow above ground are best sown at waxing moon and those that will require strong root systems or grow below ground should be sown after full moon, in the waning phase.

We can now divide these phases into four quarters.


New Moon to First quarter

First quarter to Full Moon

Waxing Full Moon to Second quarter

Second quarter to New Moon again. - Waning

These 4 phases can be useful to apply the rule of thumb Plant | Feed Harvest|Destroy If you get these 4 main quarters fixed, you will go a long way to understanding cycles.

The 4 intermediate phases also form a quaternary of activity.


Crescent

Gibbous

Disseminating

Balsamic

Crescent moon phase is when the best germination occurs and is a good time for thinning out seedlings to give room for the rapid growth that occurs at the next phase. Gibbous moon phase is when there is a greater uptake of nutrients from the soil, and swelling of fruits. Disseminating moon is an excellent time for seed setting and ripening. Balsamic phase is the best time for destroying weeds, pruning trees, and all preparation for the next cycle.

It is important to note that you should not do any gardening task at the exact time of a phase. Wait a few hours. Each of the exact phase positions marks a critical time as the moon makes a shift from one phase to the next.

Because the Sun stays in a sign for a full month there are some months that are better for certain gardening tasks than others. Interfacing the Sun cycle and the Moon's cycle takes a little skill but is not 1 difficult once you apply the logic.

If the Sun is in a 'fertile' sign for a month, then you should take advantage of that month to do some gardening - naturally the best results occur when the Moon is also is a fertile sign and the correct phase with the Sun. The best days for doing specific tasks will depend on the Moon's sign. To synthesize the phase with the sign is important in planting. There is no point in planting at the correct phase, if the Moon is in an incompatible sign - one which might damage or inhibit growth.

Remember the Sun stays in a sign for approximately a month, the Moon passes through all 12 signs in a month, so stays in a sign for approximately 2 and a half days. A new moon always occurs when the Sun and Moon are in the same sign. A full moon occurs when the Moon is in the opposite sign to the Sun.

I posted this in another thread, then found this one. Does anyone know anything about this stuff?:

1) There's been mention here of moon phases and their effect on the natural world. To ramble just a bit: Years back I was in Dominica and had a chat with a local on the Carib reservation about her thatch roofed house. She said that if the fronds were cut during a new moon, the 'juices' would be trapped inside; this way the roof can last for up to two years. But, if they were harvested during the full moon, then they would quickly dry out, get eaten by bugs, and last only a season or less.

2) To further ramble, a friend of mine has a saltwater aquarium in her baby's room with live coral. There's a special lighting assembly that provides warm yellow light during the day, complete darkness for part of the night, and a special pale blue "moonlight" that coral is supposed to need/do better with.

3) To the point that was made earlier, ganja grown outdoors will obviously encounter varying degrees of moonlight, and do just fine. They also take longer.

4) We are all undeniably aware that we trick, force, or otherwise manipulate some pre-existing genetic programming of the plant by way of controlling the photoperiod, or day cycle.

5) There are many ways to measure time. For instance, many non-Julian calendars (Mayan, Tibetan, Hebrew, Islamic i think) measure the LUNAR cycle, not the solar. Rather than months and years marking the revolution of the earth around the sun (marked with little black moon phases so show where the calendars coincide), I suppose one of these calendars would show dates as they mark the revolution of the moon around the earth (with little black suns to show solar events, such as completing a revolution of the sun or an eclipse event). A true "moonth" is 28 days. Women (and the men in their lives) are familiar with this type of schedule.

6) Given 1 through 5, here's the crazy idea: one of these gentle "moonlights", set to a cycle completely independent of the "daylights", in the flower room. Just like in the natural world, it would gradually phase from full (bright) to half (dim) to new (off) and back up again in a sine wave manner over a period of days. Some nights the moon would be new (off), and sometimes it would be dark at "night" becuase the moon had risen and set during the "day", while the sun was up and you couldn't really see it very well. The PERIOD is the important part. If 12/12 lighting is the natural catalyst to BEGIN flowering, what if we could use the moonphase lighting to tell the plants to HURRY THE FUCK UP? Instead of an outdoor 9 month growing season (9 lunar cycles), what if we set the timer to collapse this by a factor of 3, and make it accomplish 9 lunar cycles in 3 calendar months, or less? And, what if you could set the timer to coincide the "full" moon with planting activities, and a "new" moon for harvesting activites (see item #1).

One day I may try this, but if it leads to a bunch of hermies and I'm hurtin, you guys gotta support a brother till next harvest!

Anybody ever peruse this idea? I've done some research into this but haven't tried anything out yet.

Anyone know if there are any kind of premade moon light including phase available to buy? You mentioned the coral thing, are there others like that but maybe more sophisticated? I sure it could be done using a computer controller... but that would take a good bit of effort to make.

Has anyone found out, definitively, whither it is the light or gravitational change associated with waxing/waning that causes the known effect in plants? I have to believe that this has been done as a science project at some time or another.

i haven't really read about it, but thought about it about 2 weeks ago when i saw green LED lights so you can see in your grow room while it's 'dark' cause plants can't see green light or something, then i thought.. what happens when the moon is full.. sometimes it's so damn bright here at night, it's almost like morning.. how does that affect the 12/12 cycle i thought to myself, and was wondering what Kelvin the moon puts out and if it would matter to cycle that into your 12/12 ;p

but i wasnt gonna try it cause i know the original way works fine ..

I think we only need to look back at societies. All cultures back in the day planted using their lunar gages for optimum results. It's a proven fact!

Yea, but just because they planted according to the moon really tells us nothing about what specific aspect of the moon was related to the plants. Seems to me its more likely that it was gravitational like how it effects animals/humans, rather than light. But then again, we are talking about photosynthesis based organisms so its hard to make any real comparisons... Then again we are all just full of water.

If what Tom Bombadil said about it majorly effecting the internal juices of a plant is correct then it seems to me that this is something that could have a reasonably major impact when it comes to truly optimizing quality.

I was all way under the impression it was all gravity pull . I can remember a old woodsmen telling me it is best to cut your fire wood on the dark moon because all the water is in the roots as when a full moon it is pulled up . Look what it does to the ocean tides on a full moon they rise as much as 3 feet higher over a dark moon .

ObieOnce said:

Anybody ever peruse this idea? I've done some research into this but haven't tried anything out yet.

Anyone know if there are any kind of premade moon light including phase available to buy? You mentioned the coral thing, are there others like that but maybe more sophisticated? I sure it could be done using a computer controller... but that would take a good bit of effort to make.

Has anyone found out, definitively, whither it is the light or gravitational change associated with waxing/waning that causes the known effect in plants? I have to believe that this has been done as a science project at some time or another.

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There are moonlighting systems made for aquariums already on the market. I don't know if they are phasal.

Puna Bud said:

I think we only need to look back at societies. All cultures back in the day planted using their lunar gages for optimum results. It's a proven fact!

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I'm with Puna on this one. May not be a proven scientifically fact that planting with moon phases has any effect on how the plant turns out, but I still believe that planting after a full moon and harvesting after actually does something.

For outdoor growing I think that the moon plays a significant role. Not as much as the sun, but still a vital role.

Puna is soo right. If you guys just relaxed a little more you may just see what's right in your face!
Oh and don't think i mean smoking another one lol na! Real talk, it takes Disipline to really understand and enjoy life.....

Gardening by moon phase is a rather old and 'tried and true' method - anyone ever heard of the farmer's almanac? Probably but without picking it up you probably don't know it's an astrological calender. Plus other earthy folksy gardener crap I love. Anyhoo - I'm sure there is all kinda science behind it but I don't care to hypothosize - but I am following the moon phases in my garden and seeing nice lush healthy plants.

I think with relative stable strains in the old days, the growth period would be pretty consistent... It would be helpfull for the moon to be dark or small at times of high sensitivity to night light...

Farmers have planted according to the moon cycle for thousands of years. I have personally witnessed major leafy growth during the waxing moon phase. Some scientists believe that life may have not formed or been as successful without the moon. To me, it makes perfect sense. I mean, why not. You put all this effort into growing, why not add the moon phase idea in to your repertoire. I have had great success using this method. Come on... were all open minded pot heads, it is worth utilizing.

The Dude 4552 said:

Hey I remember seeing some posts about planting according to moon cycles and I was just curious as to what peoples' thoughts are regarding this outdoor technique. Also, If you can debunk it please do so, as I have no personal evidence involving the moon cycles. Plus, for those of you who use it, how do you plant accordingly? Thanks.

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dude i was the one who posted it anyways i know plants grow stronger and healthier this way. ive seen it

well i have done some reading and i have also taken astronomy at college not claiming to be super smart or nothing but cant see that many real differences between waxing waning and the quarters but the moon is only reflecting light and i read that a true blue spectrum wont interfere with flowering and the sun puts out a lot and blue bounces alot more than red so it could be the moon is reflecting blue spectrum and plants are using it and the diffent phases are diffent amounts and thus why the plants respond diffently, sorry also took physics and doubt that its gravity not going to go indepth on that though and i cant rember whose spoke of the blue spectrum trying to find article
https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/187131-spectra-unit-90watt-led-grow-7.html

http://www.softsecrets.nl/?id=47&title=Issues page 16
again not trying to fight just passing on my knowlege and readings

i used the moon to determine my grow this year, and used the brightest moon of the year to germ my girls. Three of my gals are about 8 feet tall. I also have an LSD, that is four feet tall, and looks like a crazy octopus, and they have another month of veg time.I would recomend always using the moon phases to determine planting and harvesting out of doors.why even question it ?

So do you think it would be best to harvest a day after the full moon or wait a couple weeks to get the new moon and metal-halide-like spectrums? The harvest moon happens to be on my birthday this year, the 4th.