Message Board - BigPumpkins.com

Being a person in need of scientific validation for every effort expelled in growing everything, I have always disounted the Moon Phase theories of growing.
There just isn't enough eveidence in print to substantiate these claims for my type of thinking. Or is there?

The gravitational pull from the moon is strong enough to move oceans. Is it possible that germinating seeds can be affected too?

Anyone able to share theories or experiences, I would like to hear.

Please forgive me. I am utterly embarassed to make this post or it would have been here yesterday in time for the full moon. My business colleagues & associates, if they saw this post, would think it came from an imposter! LOL

Thanks,
Steve

12/20/2002 7:35:53 AM

Alexsdad

Garden State Pumpkins

That's pretty funny Steve...You know the farmers Almanac has tips of when to plant by the moon phases!! Remember what G said....1261 vs 1262...not much of a difference!! but a half pound is a half pound... LOL Chuck

12/20/2002 8:23:40 AM

Montoursville, PA

I ALWAYS PLANT BY THE SIGN!

My family background is Dutch. They always planted things that go down to create the fruit on the falling moon. The plants that grew up to grow the fruit were planted on the rising moon. This was the long and short of it although there are daily signs one could follow which affect all life. Fishing activity charts are based on them.

Here in North Central Pennsylvania the last full moon in May is the one we would follow.

Certainly the moon affects all living things. How specific we can get with that is mute.

To appease my relatives I have a board with the word "sign" painted onto it. This gets placed in my garden in April. Therefore I always plant by the sign.

12/20/2002 11:43:50 AM

SEE!....Chuck's laughing at me!...I knew this would happen!

LOLOLOLOL

I always get the farmers almanac. Force of habit maybe.

Don't plant by it. Never did. Got some Dutch in me too.

Just something to think (or laugh!) about.

Steve

12/20/2002 2:01:42 PM

Montoursville, PA

I will say that six years ago we had hornet's nests in the mountains up ten feet and higher. This is unusual. That year we had our greatest snowfall of record. 106" that locked us out of camp untill the middle of April. Did the hornets know? Was that a sign?

12/20/2002 2:07:40 PM

Montoursville, PA

Steve.........My God son I fear for your sanity. You wrote that post by the dark of the moon. One should be agressive on the rise of the moon. The dark of the moon may be a period of indecision. Mother nature does not know how to act upon thee when you act in the dark of the moon. You must be more attentive to the signs.

12/20/2002 2:14:52 PM

Montoursville, PA

Steve Please note I ask for help on seed selection by the rise of the new moon. I expect when all the responders agree with one another that will be a good sign to follow. :)

12/20/2002 2:18:42 PM

AXC

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Beleive it or not a friend of mine just published a book called exactly that "Moon Gardening" by John Harris,costs £12 published by- Really Useful Books.

12/20/2002 2:47:42 PM

Montoursville, PA

AXC Of course I would believe it. There are many through out history that have believed in and made serious studies on the effect of nature on all of the parts of nature.

We make jolk of it only because we do not fully understand or know of it. The word "it" in the philosophy of Zen had no meaning or form. I believe the "it" became a faithfull acceptance of many unknowns. Another great philosopher said, "Look at the tree it is happening".

Apply Zen to pumpkin growing is to say, "Man, earth, nature, seed become one and it happens". In the second example we might say, "Look at the pumpkin". "It is happening".

12/20/2002 3:45:09 PM

Gads

Deer Park WA

I wish a true expert, and personal hero of mine, would speak about this subject. LEONARD STELLPFULG he has amazing insight regaurding this topic, and I know he used to post here.

12/20/2002 4:01:49 PM

Gads

Deer Park WA

Poop, sorry I spelled your name wrong Len, it's Leonard Stellpflug.....

12/20/2002 4:04:06 PM

Len

Rush, NY

Sorry, I was never an expert on this subject. My Dowser friend used to tell me the best time to germinate pumpkin seeds. He died suddenly last month so I won't get any more of his advise. If I remember correctly, the best time to plant pumpkin seeds to get the maximum benifit from cosmic energy is about 1 week before the full moon.

12/21/2002 6:31:40 AM

Sorry about your friend Len. But what a coincidence. Len reminds me of an unusual story. I have a customer who claims to be a dowser. I was there on a sales call when the utility company "Call B4 You Dig" guys were looking for & marking underground pipes & utilities. A big Athletic Field drainage project hinged on the marks being made that day or else the project would be delayed. One of their metal detectors went on the fritz. Dante (my customer) had rode me over to the projects GC trailer in a cart for introductions. When he heard of the potential delay, he pulled 2 welding rods that were bent into 90*'s from under the seat of his golf cart. He proceeded to "dowse" the area that memory served was the suspect location. When approaching this gas line from either side, the rods swayed in from his loose grip. I thought it was a hoax & that Dante was just trying to keep the schedule tight. He made me try it. I loosely held the rods as he instructed & as I passed over buried pipes, cables, & other objects, the rods did indeed sway too & frow! Several other amazed people also tried, but failed to indicate anything. I've done it here at my own house just to proove to the Mrs that it works. No trouble locating irrigation or buried gas lines at all. I can't help but wonder if this means I could find water the same way.

Boy the conversations keep getting stranger, and winter doesn't even start til tomorrow (my son's 6th birthday :o)

Steve

12/21/2002 8:41:16 AM

Alexsdad

Garden State Pumpkins

Same type of story...when I was a kid I can remember my dad walking around with willow y's , He used to putin shallow wells around the neighborhood...He passed away a couple of years ago and I often wondered how this city guy got so good at wells...I found in his army stuff techncal manuals TM-5-297 Wells.... and also in its own special case The divining Rod,,,a history of water witching for the department of the interior printed 1917...this had to be his education on it..it's a long time ago but I don't remember him hitting a dry well....rocks yeah but even that one came in...I'll keep his books for my son! strange indeed! LOL Chuck

12/21/2002 10:15:11 AM

Montoursville, PA

Steve......... Coat hangers work as well and are not quite as heavy as welding rods. As you play with your newfound mystery you will indeed notice all kinds of movements. I have never done this professionally but I can do it, as you can do it and both of us can find the major and lessor spots on any property that has underground water. I can definately identify major and lessor spots. Some have the skill to judge depth of the find. I have never associated with one of those fellows.

Onetime I advised a movement from an existing dry well to a new drilling just twenty feet away. It worked and has been a major supply of water for thirty years. The other is still dry.

About thiry percent of all humans can do this but this is one fact many can not except...therefore they remain among the doubters. One must absolutely believe he or she can do it. I have never seen it work in the hands of a serious person who can not believe it works.

Have you not heard "what the mind can conceive the body can achieve"? Some well known scholars believe you can do nothing that you do not first absolutely believe you will do. That is to say you must have absolutely no doubt about being able to do anything you do or may train yourself to do.

12/21/2002 4:15:38 PM

I guess it's a minor miracle that I can do it. When I saw Dante waving welding rods around, I really thought he was just concerned with keeping the project on schedule.

How a sceptic such as myself could then experience success astounds me. It's not that I didn't beleive that it COULD work. But rather that it could work for ME.

I've heard from another local grower today that also can accomplish this feat. He's used brass welding rods, coat hangers, & even glass rods! (Thanks Bart)

I wonder if we can use this gift(?) to improve our Pumpkin growing results. I've seen written where the accomplished douser can obtain yes or no answers to many questions whose answers would otherwise remain unknown.......Now where did I put those Powerball tickets....?

Steve

12/21/2002 4:50:15 PM

Montoursville, PA

Steve I do not need the tickets in hand. I checked them for you and got a bunch of "no's". Hee haw :)

12/21/2002 4:57:20 PM

Don Quijote

Caceres, Spain

My Michel Gros 2003 moon calendar says that the best days to plant a fruit plant in our usual planting period are April 22nd and May 9, 10, 11th. In this dates the moon is behind fire constellations, which is considered by the author more important than rising or falling moon. The dates to avoid are May, 2 and 3, for the moon is crossing the solar system plane (the elliptic) and in that days is no good to remove the soil or work with the plants.
Those kind of things are easy to test planting several seeds in the good and iin the bad days to see what happens, but, who wanted to put one 846 Calai in the bad day, even not believing in it...?
The one I do believe is in the radioestesia, like finding the best water spots with a pendulum. I don't do it bad. Is a technique where you syntonize with the wavelength you want, from the water, earth, food, seeds. I use the pendulum for a lot of things, for instance to choose the best seeds among a group in order to plant them in a particular place.
I begin point with one finger every each seed and in the other hand the pendulum moves in one of two ways. For me circular means yes and lineal, no. I learnt it from an old nice lady who gives courses where nobody laugh at all, I can assure you. And one of the best things is that you can do it far away from the place where the subject is, with only a plane or a reference. For Instance, Len put his nice 924-00 seeds over a table on a big paper, ordered an numbered and email me: "Hey Carlos which ones among all of my 924 seeds dos you think are better for my patch?". I take the pendulum and begin to count, asking I want to know wich four (or three or one...) seeds are the best for his patch. When the pendulum change its movement I stop and write that number and continue after. That's the way. Believe you or not I tested it a number of times and checked it works.
Don

12/22/2002 3:13:51 AM

Randoooo

Amherst, WI

A few years back, I started planting my garden according to the moon phase as read in the Old Farmers Almanac. I'm not sure if there is any merit to it, but I do know that my garden gets better all the time. As far as germinating and planting AG's, I will go by the moon phase because it is just one more variable to try to take advantage of.

12/22/2002 11:09:12 AM

LIpumpkin

Long Island,New York

I usually let my garden gnomes tell me where the water is...but they really havent delivered the big pumpkin yet. They've also been playing tricks on my house elf so perhaps a shake-up is in order.....hey Cleon...I need a hitman...know anyone?................Ho-ho-ho ;)

12/22/2002 11:25:46 AM

Montoursville, PA

I caught one Grinch yesterday and expect to catch others. They will be fed daily and held in live pens for the next week. They act up on a seasonal basis. Mine indicated they liked to live near pumpkin patches. I will trade, sell or swap for a living gargoyle.

Grinches are more valued as they only act up over Christmas which should be no fear to a pumpkin grower.

Gargoyles date back to early Far East. They are friendly sorts that protect both plant and animal life.

12/23/2002 12:30:11 AM

Whaddaya know? My neighbor caught a Grinch too. He's got his tethered to the ground with string. Probably to keep it from running away just like Doc. Upon examination, I discovered that his was born in China.....maybe I should notify Donald Rumsfeld's Homeland Security. I'll bet he doesn't have a valid visa. Dog gone incompetent INS.

Steve

12/23/2002 8:03:00 AM

Gads

Deer Park WA

Sorry to hear about your friends passing Len, Thank you for the post, your a great resource for all.
Merry Christmas to you and your family...

The Gadberry's

12/23/2002 10:38:39 PM