Moon magic in your garden

To plant a particular crop in the right season is not enough. For the best results, writes Dhruva Kumar, you must choose the correct phase of the moon and plant when the moon is in a sign which is favourable to sowing and planting.

THERE is no doubt that some people have green fingers — everything they plant seems to flourish. On the other hand, some people in spite of putting in their best efforts, always seem to be facing disasters in their garden. If you belong to the second category, don’t despair. Let the moon be your guide and you will turn failure and disappointment into success and reap the benefits of a lush and healthy garden.

Anything which grows — whether it is wheat, barley, corn, flowers, trees or vegetables — has an affinity with the two main cycles of nature. These are the solar cycle, which determines the seasons, and the lunar cycle, which influences the processes of germination, growth and development of plants.

To plant a particular crop in the right season is not enough — you must choose the correct phase of the moon and for the best results, plant when the moon is in a sign which is favourable to sowing and planting. The 12 signs of the zodiac are divided into four groups:

Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini

Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Earth signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo.

Each zodiac sign has a distinct quality of its own and for the purpose of gardening, they are divided into four groups:

Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are very fertile and are therefore, abundantly fruitful.

Capricorn, Taurus and Libra are semi-fertile and reasonably productive.

Sagittarius, Aquarius and Aries are all semi-barren

Gemini, Leo, Virgo are extremely barren.

It stands to reason that you should not plant any seeds while the moon is in Gemini, Leo and Virgo if you want a flourishing garden. The results will be very encouraging if you use the moon’s power in one of the fruitful water signs — Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces.

It is important to choose the correct phase of the moon for undertaking various activities in your garden. The new moon starts when the waxing cycle of the moon begins and continues for about 15 days, during which the moon appears to grow bigger and bigger, culminating in the full moon. This waxing cycle of the moon is the only time you should plant anything, except all the root vegetables, because the moon is growing and anything planted at that time will have a much better chance to grow.

This potential for growth can be considerably magnified if you plant and transplant when the moon is in Cancer, Scorpio or Pisces while it is waxing. You will also get good results if the moon is in Capricorn, Taurus or Libra but avoid all the other signs — Sagittarius, Aquarius, Aries, Gemini, Leo and Virgo — because, for the purposes of gardening, they are barren and unproductive.

After the night of the full moon, the two-week waning cycle begins, during which the moon gradually appears to decrease and grow darker before finally vanishing. The first week of the moon’s waning cycle is the best time for planting root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, onions, beet root, radishes, turnips etc. The edible parts of these vegetables, hidden beneath the earth, develop very well when the seeds are planted during the waning of the moon.

On the other hand, if the plants are sown when the moon is waxing, they produce a lot of foliage above ground, which has an adverse effect on the edible tubers.

The moon completely fades during the last week of the waning cycle and this is not a favourable time for planting anything. However, this is the best time to destroy pests, weeds, fungus, burn rubbish and prepare garden beds for planting. The best time for ridding your garden of weeds and pests is when a waning moon is in one of the barren signs, that is, Gemini, Leo or Virgo.

As mentioned earlier, the moon forms both favourable and adverse star patterns with the sun during its monthly cycle. For the purposes of gardening, you should avoid planting anything when these two spheres are in conflict. In most cases, these adverse patterns occur on the day of the new moon and eight, 15 or 22 days after that. However, there can be a slight variation at certain times of the year because the moon’s speed in orbiting the earth is not constant.