May 2024 Overview – Planting By The Signs

PBTS NOTE: Following these Quick Takes is the May Overview. All times are EDT and I’m in Zone 7A, so adjust for your location.

QUICK TAKES

May 1: Fertile, Aquarius/legs, below-grounders

MAKE CHANGES: Thru May 3, dark moon/signs perfect.

May 2-3: VERY fertile, Pisces/feet, below-grounders

May 4-5: NO PLANTING, Aries/head/killing sign

May 6-7: VERY fertile, Taurus/neck, below-grounders

May 7: Moon moves to light phase, 11:22 p.m.

May 8-9: Bean days! Gemini/arms, great for beans, light moon

May 10-12: VERY fertile, Cancer/breast, above-grounders

May 13-14: NO PLANTING, Leo/heart/killing sign

May 15-19: Flowering signs Virgo/secrets (3), Libra/reins (2)

May 20-22: VERY fertile, Scorpio/secrets, above-grounders

May 23: Moon moves to dark phase/full moon, 9:53 a.m.

May 23-28: Fertile, Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees and Aquarius/legs, below-grounders

May 29-30: VERY fertile, Pisces/feet, below-grounders

May 31-June 2: NO PLANTING, Aries/head/killing sign

MAY OVERVIEW

       MOON PHASES: As it has been for several months now, May begins and ends with the moon in the dark phase. It moves from dark to light with the new moon arriving at 11:22 p.m. on May 7 and then back to the dark phase with the full moon at 9:53 a.m. on May 23.

When the light moon is in force, plant above-ground producers and it’s below-ground producers when the dark moon rules.

Don’t plant when either of the killing signs, Aries and Leo, is in force or veggies when the flowering signs Virgo and Libra rule.

Planting when the fertile signs rule is a viable alternative to the VERY fertile signs, which are Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, and Cancer. The fertile ones – just a little below VERY fertile – are Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius.

If you can only utilize one aspect of the system for planting, I would suggest going with the moon phases but still completely avoid the killing signs Aries and Leo and the flowering signs Virgo and Libra for anything but flowers.

THE SIGNS: Check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above and on any calendar) before proceeding with planting anywhere, or other moon-related activities.

       FERTILE DAYS (formerly called “so-so days”): Aquarius (the legs), May 1, 27-28; Sagittarius (the thighs), May 23-24; Capricorn (the knees), May 25-26. There are seven days in May ruled by these three signs, down from 10 in April.  The dark moon for below-ground producers rules all of them and they are perfect for making changes.

VERY FERTILE DAYS: These signs are accompanied by the phase of the moon in which they occur. Pisces (the feet), May 2-3, 29-30, dark moon; Taurus (the neck), May 6-7, dark moon;  Cancer (the breast), May 10-12, light moon; and Scorpio (the secrets), May 20-22, light moon. There are an incredible 12 days in May ruled by the VERY fertile signs – six under the dark moon and six with the light moon in force. This is GREAT for one of our top planting months for hot-weather lovers!

KILLING DAYS: No planting, transplanting, seeding, re-potting or dealing with things you want to thrive should occur on these days. Reserve them for anything but planting anywhere. No planting! Here’s when they rule: Aries (the head) May 4-5, 31; Leo (the heart), May 13-14. There are five days in May ruled by these two signs.

PEA/BEAN DAYS: Gemini (the arms), the pea/bean sign, rules May 8-9. The light moon is in force both days making them perfect for getting in your first crop of bush beans and/or southern peas. Statistically, the danger of frost will have passed – or nearly so – by then. That doesn’t mean a frost or late freeze WON’T happen – it means it SHOULDN’T!

       FLOWERING DAYS: May 15-19, Virgo (bowels, three days) and Libra (reins, two). No veggies on flowering days. Some want to debate that for some veggies, but as for me, I’m sticking with no veggies.

       MAKING CHANGES: While the number is down by one in May, when we consider the stretch at the end of April, there are still a great many days suited for making changes with the moon in the dark phase and the signs going out of the body beyond anything that functions.

There are 11 days in May in two stretches: May 1-3, 23-30. And if you are anxious to get started, on April 25 we begin a perfect stretch that continues into the first three days of May. That stretch is  April 25-May 3, nine days, and then May 23-30.

Changes might include starting a diet or exercise program, stopping smoking or other unhealthy habits, weaning small children or animals, scheduling elective surgery or dental work – anything requiring us to do something differently from the way we are doing it now.

The signs involved are Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees,  Aquarius/legs, and Pisces/feet. See how they are moving down the body beyond “parts” that function like the heart or bowels.

POURING GRAVEL: If you have gravel to pour on a drive or road on your farm, do that when the light moon rules, which is May 8-22.

The same applies for stones on a garden path: Place them when the moon is in the light phase, so they don’t sink. If you’re setting fence posts, do that in the light phase of the moon so the posts don’t sink.

Contact: If you have questions, call or text me at 502-682-5995. If you are online, visit and follow my Planting by the Signs Facebook page devoted exclusively to this information. It’s @plantingbysigns and it’s a business page.