Planting by the Moon in May 2027: Dates, Moon Signs and Traditional Planting Days

Planting by the Moon in May 2027 follows four phase dates: new moon on May 6, first quarter on May 13, full moon on May 20 and last quarter on May 28. Almanac tradition assigns leafy, fruiting and root crops to different stretches of that cycle. The sections below map each stretch to its Moon sign, its sign-change times and a full day-by-day table. The Moon’s effect on crops is not proven, so everything here is tradition.

May 2027 at a glance

The month opens in the waning fourth quarter, with the Moon 24% lit on May 1, passes new moon on May 6 and then waxes to the Flower Moon on May 20 at 6:59 a.m. ET, with the Moon in Scorpio. After that it wanes through the third quarter and back into the fourth by the last day of the month.

According to almanac tradition, the month holds three planting windows:

• Leafy crops (first quarter): May 6 (Moon in Taurus), May 9-10 (Moon in Cancer)
• Fruiting crops (second quarter): May 16-19 (Moon in Libra/Scorpio)
• Root crops, bulbs, perennials (third quarter): May 23-24 (Moon in Capricorn)

These windows are almanac tradition, not an established effect, and the local frost calendar comes first. Frost dates and soil temperature decide whether a crop can go in the ground at all. A gardener who follows the Moon only chooses among days that are already open on the local calendar.

This page uses two conventions to build its windows: the quarter rule, which gives each quarter of the lunar cycle a crop type, and the sign rule, which labels each zodiac sign fruitful, semi-fruitful or barren. A third, the biodynamic calendar associated with Maria Thun, appears as a label in the sign-change table. For the wider background, see planting by the moon, and for the other months of the year, planting by the moon 2027.

What to plant in May

Almanac tradition sorts crops into groups by where the edible part grows, and each group has its own stretch of the lunar cycle. For leafy crops, the tradition names lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and celery. Fruiting crops, meaning above-ground crops that bear seed inside the fruit, include tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash and corn. The root group covers potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and beets, along with bulbs and perennials.

Three of those crops have their own pages that lay out the Moon dates in more detail. For fruiting crops, see when to plant tomatoes by the moon and when to plant peppers by the moon. For the root group, see when to plant potatoes by the moon.

Whether any of these crops belongs in the ground in May depends on the state, and often on the part of the state. A May in southern Texas and a May in northern Minnesota are not the same planting month. This page does not give planting dates or soil temperatures, because those belong to local guidance. The state planting guides and state planting calendars are the place to find when each crop can go in at your location. Once you have that window, the Moon tables below can be laid over it.

The tradition also has a fourth category, which is not for planting. The fourth quarter, from last quarter to new moon, is set aside for rest. According to the almanac convention, that is the stretch for weeding, pruning, turning the soil and composting. In May 2027 it covers the first days of the month through May 5 and the days from May 28 on. The day-by-day table at the bottom shows which rows carry that quarter.

Moon phases in May 2027

The four phases mark the quarter boundaries the tradition uses. A quarter runs from one phase to the next, so the first quarter starts at the new moon and ends at first quarter, and the second quarter ends at the full moon. All times are Eastern (ET).

The full moon of the month is the Flower Moon, a name used by the Old Farmer’s Almanac. It falls on May 20 at 6:59 a.m. ET, with the Moon in Scorpio. Less than two hours later, at 8:27 a.m. ET, the Moon enters Sagittarius, which is why the noon reading for May 20 shows Sagittarius and 100% lit. Readers outside the Eastern time zone should convert these times to their own, since an early-morning or late-evening event can land on a different calendar date.

Traditional planting days in May 2027

How the rule works

The almanac rule has two parts. First, the quarter of the cycle sets the crop type: leafy crops in the first quarter, fruiting crops in the second, root crops, bulbs and perennials in the third. Second, the Moon should be in a sign this convention labels fruitful or semi-fruitful. Fruitful signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, and semi-fruitful signs are Taurus, Libra and Capricorn. A day counts as a traditional day only when both parts line up.

Every crop type has at least one window in May 2027. The rest quarter has no planting window by design, since the tradition keeps it for soil work.

Partial days at the edges

Days here are read at noon ET, but the Moon changes sign at all hours. A window’s first or last day may therefore be only partly inside the rule. The leafy window on May 6 is the clearest case. The new moon arrives that morning at 6:58 a.m. ET, so the first quarter starts partway through the day, and the Moon stays in Taurus until it enters Gemini on May 7 at 7:06 a.m. ET. The Cancer days follow the same pattern. The Moon enters Cancer on May 9 at 8:59 a.m. ET and leaves for Leo on May 11 at 11:00 a.m. ET.

For the fruiting window, the Moon enters Libra on May 15 at 6:33 p.m. ET and Scorpio on May 18 at 12:33 a.m. ET. The second quarter ends at the full moon on May 20 at 6:59 a.m. ET, so the listed days stop on May 19. The root window sits inside the Capricorn stay, which begins on May 22 at 6:42 p.m. ET and ends on May 25 at 7:04 a.m. ET. The listed days are May 23-24, and the third quarter itself runs until May 28 at 9:57 a.m. ET.

Moon sign changes in May 2027

The Moon moves through all twelve signs of the tropical zodiac in a bit over 27 days. Here is every change in May 2027, with the label the tradition gives each sign. The second label is the biodynamic day type associated with Maria Thun, where root, flower, leaf and fruit days are tied to groups of signs.

The labels are a convention of moon-sign gardening almanacs, not properties the signs have. This convention labels Taurus semi-fruitful, for example, and sources differ on Virgo, Sagittarius and Aquarius, so another almanac may sort them differently. The biodynamic column is a separate system with its own four day types, and it does not replace the quarter rule used for the windows above.

Day by day: phase and Moon sign

This table has one row for each day of May 2027, read at noon ET. The quarter column uses the numbers 1 to 4 from the quarter rule, and the percent column shows how much of the Moon’s disk is lit at that moment. A noon reading can differ from the sign at other hours of the same day, so check the sign-change table when a day sits at the edge of a window.

A few rows are worth a second look. May 6 reads 0% lit at noon, just after the new moon at 6:58 a.m. ET, and it is the first row labeled quarter 1. May 13 is the first row of quarter 2, matching first quarter at 12:43 a.m. ET that day. May 20 shows 100% and the first row of quarter 3, matching the full moon at 6:59 a.m. ET. May 28 opens quarter 4 again, after last quarter at 9:57 a.m. ET.

Questions about May 2027

When is the full moon in May 2027?

The full moon, called the Flower Moon, falls on May 20, 2027, at 6:59 a.m. ET, with the Moon in Scorpio.

When is the new moon in May 2027?

The new moon arrives on May 6, 2027, at 6:58 a.m. ET, and it starts the tradition’s first quarter.

Which days are the traditional days for root crops?

According to almanac tradition, the root-crop days, which also cover bulbs and perennials, are May 23-24, 2027, with the Moon in Capricorn during the third quarter. The third quarter itself ends at last quarter on May 28 at 9:57 a.m. ET, after which the tradition turns to rest work in the fourth quarter.

Related guides

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• planting during the new moon
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