Lunar/biodynamic gardening

[David Shaw]

How about just a simple 'control' bed, Martin, just planting at random times such as we usualy do.

[David Pilling]

Hi,

Believe it or not:

http://www.kaykeys.net/spirit/earthspirituality/moon/moonseed.html

people have done experiments.

I'd imagine you'd have to remove all other influences i.e. sow your seed under lights, controlled temperatures etc. Because if you just sow in the normal way the progress of the seasons, changing day length, temperature. are going to be the biggest time dependent influences.

[Gerry Webster]

.....Another of the many natural sciences that has fallen out of common use in recent times.

Natural sciences

Would you prefer "natural philosophy" ?

The natural sciences  might be called earth sciences, I suppose.....systems that are natural rather than man-made......

Maggi - oh dear, I forsee another endless debate. I should keep my mouth shut (or my keyboard inactive). In answer to your question - no.
In relation to your second point, the natural sciences (or the 'earth sciences' or any other sciences or systems) are entirely man made. 

[Maggi Young]

Gerry... gawd forbid we should turn this into a debate about the meaning.....I gave no thought to a wider meaning, such as might be understood in a technical way, I was only trying to express my own feeling about the ancient human reactions and interactions with the forces of nature.... to my mind the action of the moon on the tides etc is a physical effect which can be decribed as as science, in that it is a process....and it is certainly not man made.... that's as far as I meant to go!

[fermi de Sousa]

I've often wondered about the effect of the lunar cycle on seed germination. The question I have about sowing relates to whether all bulbous species are to be regarded as "root vegetables" as the only advice I've seen relates to vegies and the distinction is made between "root" crops needing to be sown in the waning moon and others during the waxing moon!
cheers
fermi

[David Shaw]

Fermi, whilst I am quite happy accepting the lunar influence on vegetables, and other annuals, I think it is more difficult to apply the principles to perennials.
 Take the example of Cyclamen. It is a corm so it is a root. We grow cyclamen for their flowers, so, a flower but I also grow them for their beautifully variegated leaves - a leaf. As I am also interested in propagating our cyclamen I am interested in their seeds - a fruit. So, I have covered all four rotational groups (roots, flowers, leaves and fruits) in the one plant.
No, gardening by the lunar cycle is much easier to understand when just looking at one aspect of the plant eg,parsnips being a root or cabbages being a leaf vegetable.

[gote]

I have a very long experience of finding out the reasons for problems in manufacturing plants.
I have found that a good remedy is to put in a guy in a white coat and give him a note board and a pen.
He can make notes and the problem goes away immedietaly. If he is doing crosswords they also go away.
This sounds like a joke but it is the naked truth.
The thing that works is the extra effort. Minor acts of sloppiness are suppressed by the supposedly vigilant controller.

I should think the the Calender thing is a similar phenomenon. My experience is that

A: yes some things work better at certain times. This is because at certain times the plant seed or whatever is in a stage where whatever we do works and that the yearly season is in a stage where it works. However the moon has very little to do with this.
 
B: Whoever takes the effort of growing things according to a calender will also pay a lot of attention to other details and have excellent results for that reason. This is the problem with many of the "new" or "old" ways of growing things that give such wonderful results. It is not the new or old method. It is that fact that someone puts in an extra effort.

Cheers
Göte   

[David Shaw]

B: Whoever takes the effort of growing things according to a calender will also pay a lot of attention to other details and have excellent results for that reason. This is the problem with many of the "new" or "old" ways of growing things that give such wonderful results. It is not the new or old method. It is that fact that someone puts in an extra effort.
Wise words, Gote.

[indigo]

Answered my own question.  Got the Nick Kollerstrom and due to exasperation then got Maria Thun which arrived yesterday - much easier!  It's actually improved since I last had it.

So, for me, it's Maria Thun every time