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Gardening · Planting

Planting and transplanting by the moon

Biodynamic practice plants in the descending moon. By this picture the plant then works downwards, into root and soil. Which day within this time fits is decided by the day type.

The next planting days

Days with a descending moon in the next four weeks. The symbol shows the day type; unfavourable hours are listed with their times.

Times for Europe/London

Plant by plant

The next favourable days, sowing and harvest months and neighbours for the most common garden plants.

Why the descending moon

In a little over 27 days the moon rises once in the sky and sinks again. With the descending moon, tradition places the sap in root and soil. This is why the time counts as planting time: for seedlings going out into the bed, for perennials and woody plants, and for everything that is transplanted or pricked out.

Pierre Masson puts planting into the descending moon. Above the lunar window stands the weather: if the soil is too wet or too cold, the work is postponed.

The day type by plant part

Within planting time you choose the day by the part of the plant that matters. Lettuce and cabbage go into the bed on a leaf day, tomatoes, beans and soft fruit bushes on a fruit day, onions and potatoes on a root day, flowers on a flower day.

Broccoli and artichokes count as flowers, because their buds are what we eat.

The moon phase as a second layer

The waning moon also counts as favourable for planting, pricking out and transplanting. When descending and waning moon coincide, both rules point to the same day.

The biodynamic calendar does not block full moon and new moon. If one of them falls on a day in the list, its time is shown.

Hours to avoid

Lunar nodes, perigee, the occultation of a planet by the moon, planetary nodes and eclipses count as unfavourable in the biodynamic calendar, whatever the day type. The days from Good Friday until sunrise on Easter Sunday are added to these.

The list above gives such hours with their times. If fewer than two suitable hours remain free between 6 am and 9 pm, the day is left out of the list.

Frequently asked questions about planting by the moon

When do you plant by the lunar calendar?

In the descending moon, on the day type that matches the plant part: lettuce on a leaf day, tomatoes on a fruit day, onions on a root day, flowers on a flower day. The next suitable days are at the top of this page.

Is the descending moon the same as the waning moon?

No. Descending describes the path: the moon stands lower in the sky from day to day. Waning describes the light between full moon and new moon. The two movements run independently of each other.

Can you plant at full moon?

Yes. The biodynamic calendar does not block the hours around full moon; the moon’s course and the day type apply. If the moon’s perigee falls on the same day, it appears in the list as an unfavourable window.

When do you plant fruit trees and soft fruit by the moon?

In the descending moon on a fruit day. Sowing and felling times for individual tree species are shown in the month view of the calendar.

Does this also apply in the southern hemisphere?

There the moon’s course is reversed. If you open this page in a southern hemisphere time zone, the list shows the planting days for there.

Gardening by the moon