Moon calendar: phases, today’s Moon, and gardening
The garden Moon calendar gives, day by day, the tasks that custom associates with the Moon’s phase and sign.
- phases
- gardening
- ascending moon
By Thomas Guilhot · updated
Today: first quarter, in Capricorn
The lunar calendar at a glance
The Moon’s phases and sign day by day, with the garden practices that tradition attaches to them.
A simple rhythm for organizing sowing, planting, and harvesting, to try over the months.
Lunar gardening is a customary practice: no sure result, to be tried with curiosity.
- Today
- First quarter
- The Moon
- In Capricorn, ascending
- According to tradition
- Root day
- This month
- October 2026, day by day
The Moon today
Sunday, October 18, 2026, calculated at 18 h 32 (updated every hour). Today’s Moon, calculated live: its phase, its sign, the type of day attached to it, and the direction of its course.
- PhaseFirst quarter50% illuminated
- Moon in♑︎ Capricornuntil October 19, 03 h 39, then Aquarius
- Its courseAscending Moondeclination −23.8°
- According to traditionRoot dayMoon in a sign of the earth element
October 2026, day by day
Phase at noon, Paris time, the Moon’s sign, and the type of day according to the gardening tradition; the time of the main phases is shown.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 315 h 25 | 4 | |||
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 1017 h 50 | 11 |
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 1818 h 13 |
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
2605 h 12 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
- Root days
- Leaf days
- Flower days
- Fruit days
- Time of a main phase
The calendars for 2026 and 2027
- JanuaryFull moon on January 3
- FebruaryFull moon on February 1
- MarchFull moon on March 3
- AprilFull moon on April 2
- MayFull moon on May 1
- JuneFull moon on June 30
- JulyFull moon on July 29
- AugustFull moon on August 28
- SeptemberFull moon on September 26
- OctoberFull moon on October 26
- NovemberFull moon on November 24
- DecemberFull moon on December 24
- JanuaryFull moon on January 22
- FebruaryFull moon on February 21
- MarchFull moon on March 22
- AprilFull moon on April 21
- MayFull moon on May 20
- JuneFull moon on June 19
- JulyFull moon on July 18
- AugustFull moon on August 17
- SeptemberFull moon on September 16
- OctoberFull moon on October 15
- NovemberFull moon on November 14
- DecemberFull moon on December 13
Roots, leaves, flowers, fruits
Root days
Moon in ♉︎ Taurus, ♍︎ Virgo, ♑︎ CapricornEarth days, when the Moon passes through Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn. Tradition would assign them to carrots, potatoes, radishes, beets, and to work on the soil: digging, hilling, weeding.
Leaf days
Moon in ♋︎ Cancer, ♏︎ Scorpio, ♓︎ PiscesWater days, when the Moon is in Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces. They would be good for lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and herbs, as well as for watering, since tradition links the element with moisture.
Flower days
Moon in ♊︎ Gemini, ♎︎ Libra, ♒︎ AquariusAir days, for the Moon in Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius. These are for planting flowers and aromatic or nectar-rich plants, and for harvesting broccoli, artichokes, and flowers for drying.
Fruit days
Moon in ♈︎ Aries, ♌︎ Leo, ♐︎ SagittariusFire days, the Moon being in Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius. They would go to tomatoes, beans, squash, fruit trees, and the picking of whatever needs to ripen in the sun.
What the gardening tradition says
Gardeners who follow the Moon first distinguish four kinds of days, according to the element of the sign the Moon is passing through. They would reserve each kind for one part of the plant: the root, the leaf, the flower, or the fruit. Then come two great rhythms: the ascending Moon, associated with sowing and harvesting, and the descending Moon, with planting and pruning. This tradition is old: it appears in farmers’ almanacs and, already, in Latin authors such as Pliny the Elder, who advised cutting wood toward the end of the Moon’s cycle. Trials carried out to test it have found no clear effect. A vegetable garden is set first by weather, soil, and season.
The ascending Moon is not the same as the waxing Moon. For a fortnight or so, the Moon appears a little higher in the sky at noon each day, like the Sun in spring: it is ascending. Then it descends again. Tradition ties the first period to the rise of the sap, hence to sowing, grafting, and harvesting fruit; the second to the withdrawal toward the roots, hence to planting, transplanting, and pruning.
Gardening by the Moon is a reported tradition, not a proven method: something to try, not a rule to follow blindly. The dates and signs, on the other hand, are calculated. Why?
Recharging a crystal → Same theme: the full moon of rituals
How this calendar is calculated
Each day shows the phase, the illumination of the disk, the sign the Moon is passing through, and whether it is ascending or descending. Everything is calculated by the site’s engine from astronomical positions, with no table copied in. The days are Paris days, and a change of sign during the day is shown to the hour. The sign is that of the tropical zodiac, as in mainstream calendars: biodynamic calendars inspired by Maria Thun follow the constellations instead, so their days may differ. The Moon runs through its phases in a month and never stays more than two and a half days in the same sign: the types of work therefore change quickly from one day to the next.
Frequently asked questions about the lunar calendar
What is a root, leaf, flower, or fruit day?
It is a way of sorting days according to the sign the Moon is in. Earth: root day. Water: leaf day. Air: flower day. Fire: fruit day. Tradition advises tending the matching part of the plant then: harvesting or sowing roots on a root day, lettuce on a leaf day. The classification comes from astrology, not from botany.
What is the difference between an ascending moon and a waxing moon?
A waxing Moon is a phase, the one where the lit disk grows larger each evening. The ascending Moon refers to its course across the sky: its height at noon increases for about two weeks, then decreases. The two cycles are offset: the Moon can be waxing and descending at the same time.
Is the Moon calendar valid everywhere?
The phases are: the new moon falls at the same instant for everyone. The dates shift by a day depending on time zones, and this calendar follows Paris time. The Moon’s sign is the same at every point on the globe, but the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, where the sowing advice shifts accordingly.
Is gardening by the Moon proven?
No. Trials comparing sowing at a waxing and a waning Moon, or root days and fruit days, have not found a reliable difference. The practice nonetheless remains alive: some gardeners value it as a framework that guides their calendar. Take it as a tradition to try, without sacrificing the weather or the plants’ needs to it.