Kitchen Garden Forum

Cider Boys wrote:Planting by the moon, what a lot of complete nonsense!(How people can believe in these fairy stories is beyond me.) Barney

Hi Barney, you might of course be right. Then again, the moon is quite capable of affecting our tides. This involves considerable volumes of water - the amounts inside plants are significantly less.

Mind you, on that basis, our blood might flow differently throughout the day. Then again we're not fixed in one position like seeds or plants.

I'm sure if there was incontrovertable prrof, we'd already be doing this. In the meantime, a quick google brought this up:
http://www.planetfusion.co.uk/~pignut/Lunar_gardening.html#science

Oh and Chantal, the allotment byelaws round here say you're not allowed to hold any entertainment, so we can't follow your example.....

Colin

"Planting by the moon, what a lot of complete nonsense!(How people can believe in these fairy stories is beyond me.) Barney"
Oh how right you are Barney!
JB.

I'd prefer to try it before I condemn it as nonsense. Finding the time will be another matter.

The beans always grow the same way up the pole because of the moon so it clearly has an influence.

Why then do runner beans grow clockwise (when looking down on them) and other beans and climbing plants grow anti-clockwise or is the moon able to discriminate between different plants?

I thought Charles Darwin proved that the growing tips of climbing plants twine around due to the sun's influence.

Barney

Barney

Perhaps its something to do with the amount of Cider to are adding to the Comfrey Tea

Hello Weed

At least it is Cider I'm drinking while the moonies must be drinking moonshine!

Barney

I thought beans went the same way as plugholes, am I wrong? Ah well, as I say, I've no time to be a lunatic anyway.

Hello Chantal and all other Moonies

I am not sure what controls the water, perhaps it is the moon's gravitational pull. As for the beans they twine as they grow, like most legumes, due to heliotropism. In other words their leaves orient themselves to expose as much of their surface as possible to the sun, tracking it from east to west. I’m sure other contributors more knowledgeable than me can explain it in more detail. However I am sure it has nothing to do with the moon.

All the best

Barney

Hey don't go calling ME a moonie; lunatic yes, moonie no; at least not yet

I've just tried looking on Google and have very scarily come up with the following quotes from another forum:

"The one folk rule that springs to my mind is that you should not plant runner beans outside until you can do so naked! I'm sure that could lead to some interesting sights throughout the countries gardens and allotments!"

"My old grandad used to moon when he was out in the garden planting. We put it down to ill fitting trousers but the neighbours reported him to the police and he received a caution."

"I have heard a tradition that says that the test for whether the soil is warm enough or planting is to sit on it bare .... (having removed nether garments)
The mooning thing is not as silly as you might think."

"Now that you mention it, I recall my Dad did say the rule applied to haircuts as well!He said if you got your hair cut during the waxing phase of the moon, your hair would grow faster afterwards! It was best to wait till the waning phase, and then you could go longer before you needed a haircut again!"

Now I'm really worried.

You are really worried Chantal

Not half as worried as we are about the prospect, now vividly eched on my minds eye , of you going out next spring to check if the soil is warm enough to sow seeds.

Oh my god, she said something about runner beans as well......

Chantal, how downmarket, from the Telegraph to the Sun in one growing season.

Tigger please educate her about decorum.

Oh Peter, this is SO not going to happen; sorry. I can think of nothing worse than sitting bare-arsed on my plot testing the soil temperature; especially with all the blokes on our site leering over the fence.

There is NOTHING that happens on my plot (with little exception) that could not be photographed for the Telegraph. Talking of which, if I agree to get married on the lottie I can be featured in the Telegraph again. What do you think? I think not.

Water goes down the plughole according to the Coriolis effect... (the spin of the earth) nowt to do with gravity I'm afraid!

Ooooh you're so clever Mr PH.

Not nearly as clever as I like to think though

You could always get married here, but I couldn't guarantee you a spot in the Telegraph!