Fernando wrote:
Without intending to be so meticulous as we think Germans are,
I'd like to do something similar (but much, much simpler), like
observing if seeds sowed in the new moon do any better than
seeds sowed in the waning moon, etc.
I'm afraid you will have to be meticulous if you don't want to waste your
time. (Leaving aside the question of whether the project is likely to be a
waste of time regardless of how carefully it is done.) If you want to plant
the seeds outdoors, you will need many (many!) years before you can get
statistically significant results because you have to control not only for
the season but also for the weather in each year. For example, you need to
compare two sets of seeds, both planted at the equinox, but one set in a
year where the moon was full at the equinox and the other in a year where
the moon was new at the equinox. But that is not enough because you have to
be sure that the temperature, cloudiness, and percipitation at the time of
planting and several weeks before and after were similar. Your only hope to
prove an effect would be to plant the seeds indoors and keep the
temperature, humidity, and light at constant levels over several months.
Several plantings would be necessary to be sure the seeds weren't drying out
or something from one planting to the next. If you could manage to prove a
small but consistent effect it would have no immediate application because
the weather and other effects would certainly be more important in deciding
when to plant in any given year. On the other hand, an incontrovertible
positive result would be extremely interesting from a scientific point of
view -- precisely because it would contradict so much of what we believe to
understand about the world.
Best regards,
Art Carlson
