Gardening by the Moon Weekend To-Do
An idea as old as agriculture, based both folklore and superstition but there are scientific ideas to back it up.
- Lunar Phase: 2nd Quarter begins on Thursday, April 30
- Saturday-Monday: Moon in the sign of Gemini - Plant melons
- Watermelons, Cantaloupes, and Honey Dew melons, along with pumpkins, can be planted now. They require some room to grow, so them lots of space to spread out.
Later in the Week
- Tuesday/Wednesday: Moon in the sign of Cancer - Plant season color -
- You can mix seasonal color and herbs in the same container with any number of combinations available. Marigolds, Lobelia, Alyssum combines with Basil, Thyme and Parsley make some attractive plantings.
Other Things To-do
- When planting corn, it's better to plant in many short rows than in several long rows. With long rows, you get poor pollination and incomplete ears of corn. The wind is corn's chief pollinator, so for every ear to have a complete set of kernels, every silk has to be pollinated.
- To keep a poinsettia plant compact, pinch back the new growth every six weeks now through August. I'd remove a third of the new shoots unless it's terribly leggy and fertilize with Dr. Earth Liquid Plant Food, or Miracle-Gro.
- And finally, grapes are dusted with Sulfur to control Mildew. Once the new growth has grown to fifteen inches, the plants should be dusted every two weeks.