9 Comments

Thank you for the link to sign to support conserving old growth forests. I didn't know about this movement and coalition before reading your article I signed and added a comment. You make such a difference.

Also I loved learning about the rainbow types, and those two cool names I hate to type here without checking them again, lol.

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Thank you - your sweet comment came at just the time I needed to hear it!

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circumzenithal!! ( Haha, I had to cut and paste it. What a great word!). Well absolutely you are making a great difference bringing us information we wouldn't know otherwise! Pat on the back to you!

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Wow... Thanks for following up so quickly Heather. Now I'm really confused. I weigh most of my produce and record extensive observations of our edible garden ecosystem. It is a definite increase in productivity around the full moon, but only in very large leaved plants. I have a background in science and understand the difference between correlation and causation. So if it's not night-time photosynthesis then I wonder what the influence could be? I might head down that rabbit hole further and do some more research at some point soon. Will let you know if I find out anything of significance.

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I don't understand, either, why you're getting more produce around the full moon. I have noticed, in a greenhouse, that water droplets form on the tips of leaves of well watered plants on a full moon.

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That's an interesting observation Susan. I'll keep an eye out for similar occurrences in our patch next summer (there's no point looking here in winter as our high humidity ensures that droplets form on all leaves all the time!)

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There's a definite rabbit hole to look at here. Moon phases can affect rainfall, so there may be something there. But it's a fairly small effect. And it may affect the water table, but I think that might be on the same cycle as tides. There's an article here which is from 2010 but might be a start.

https://www.science.org/content/article/folklore-confirmed-moons-phase-affects-rainfall

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Interesting! That's generally what I found about the effects of moonlight as well - there's SOME effect, but it's pretty small. I had no idea there was any effect on rainfall and groundwater, even if it is a small effect.

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Agreed, very interesting Melanie, thanks for sharing. It's definitely more than water availability, as the plants have adequate access to moisture via irrigation that is activated daily. I'm going to increase the attention I pay to the cucumbers next year and chart the exact number we pick against the moon phases. I'll also see if it correlated to other climatic events such as rainfall. Stay tuned!

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