Everyone knows the influence of the moon on the behavior of trees. In this article I am going to try to explain how the lunar phase affects the behavior of our bonsai trees. The main influence that the moon exerts on our trees is on the flow of sap, a determining factor in their behavior and in the work we must do to obtain a satisfactory result.

To analyze how the moon affects trees, we are going to differentiate 4 periods:

• New Moon
• Crescent
• full moon
• last quarter

New Moon

The sap has a tendency to direct its flow downwards, so it will have a greater irrigation of sap on the roots, making it the ideal time to fertilize and pinch. We fertilize so that root development takes advantage of the food we are providing and we clamp since the sap is more accumulated in the lower part of the plant and we will prevent the plant from losing sap in the cuts.

Crescent

At this point there is a balance in the plant with a good development of the aerial part and roots without highlighting either of the two, therefore it is the moment where more varied works can be carried out without being the excellent moment or the worst. from none of them. This is the time to plant seeds and cuttings since due to this balance we will achieve good uniform development.

full moon

At this point the sap accumulates in the aerial zone and therefore it is the part with the greatest growth, while the roots slow down their activity. It is a good time to perform layering and grafting, due to the increase in activity at the top of our bonsai, this type of work will have a higher success rate.

last quarter

At this time the foliar activity of the plant begins to slow down and the root zone begins to activate; it is an ideal time to transplant and prune. The beginning of root activity helps the plant begin to develop a good root system after the transplant and, therefore, the transplant is carried out satisfactorily. On the other hand, it is a good time to prune, since the greatest flow of sap is found in the lower part of the plant, we will avoid a loss of sap. Furthermore, if we are going to carry out a transplant, removing some of the foliage will help compensate for the aerial part with the root and consequently we will have a higher percentage of success in our work.

How to identify the lunar phases

A simple way to know what phase we are in is the “C” technique. If we see the moon in the shape of an inverse “C”, we will be in the crescent phase. Otherwise, if we find the moon in the shape of a “C”, we will find ourselves in a waning phase.