Gardeners who plant by the Moon have five traditional windows in December 2026, spread between December 10 and December 30. The month opens in the waning fourth quarter, the new moon arrives on December 8, and the Cold Moon follows on December 23. All of it is almanac custom, not a proven effect on crops, and the tables below list every date and clock time in Eastern time.
December 2026 at a glance
The month opens with the Last Quarter Moon at 1:08 a.m. ET on December 1, with the Moon 45% lit at noon that day and waning toward the new moon. The full moon, called the Cold Moon in Old Farmer’s Almanac usage, falls on December 23 at 8:28 p.m. ET, with the Moon in Cancer. Between those two points the Moon passes through all four quarters, and a second Last Quarter arrives on December 30.
According to almanac tradition, the quarter picks the type of crop and the Moon’s sign picks the day. The traditional windows for the month are:
- Leafy crops: December 10-11 and December 15-16
- Fruiting crops: December 20-21
- Root crops, bulbs and perennials: December 24-25 and December 30
The Moon never overrides the calendar of the place. Frost dates and soil temperature decide whether anything can go into the ground where you live. The Moon, for gardeners who follow it, only chooses among days that are already open to you, and your state’s planting calendar settles that question first.
If you are reading this series in order, the previous month is covered on the November 2026 page. The full-year overview sits on the planting by the moon 2026 page. This page stays on December, with exact times for every phase and every change of sign. Two parts of the month need extra care. The first is the stretch from December 12 to December 14, when the Moon is in Aquarius, a sign this convention labels barren. The second is the end of the month, when a Last Quarter on December 30 cuts the third-quarter window short at 1:59 p.m. ET. Both are explained in the sections that follow.
What to plant in December
The planting season in December depends on the state. A garden in the northern Plains and a garden along the Gulf Coast do not share a calendar, and no Moon table can bridge that gap. Your state’s planting calendar is the place to learn which crops can go in the ground this month and when. The sections below only tell you which days the almanac tradition favors for each type of crop.
The tradition sorts crops into three groups, and every crop in the month’s windows belongs to one of them.
Leafy crops
According to almanac tradition, leafy crops that bear above ground belong to the first quarter, the stretch from new moon to first quarter. The usual examples in almanacs are lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and celery. In December 2026 the first quarter runs from the new moon on December 8 to the First Quarter Moon on December 17.
Fruiting crops
The second quarter, from first quarter to full moon, is assigned to above-ground crops that carry their seed inside the fruit. The almanac list names tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash and corn. This quarter runs from December 17 to the full moon on December 23.
Root crops, bulbs and perennials
The third quarter, from full moon to last quarter, belongs to root crops, bulbs and perennials. Potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and beets are the examples almanacs give. In December 2026 this quarter starts with the Cold Moon on December 23 and ends with the Last Quarter on December 30.
The fourth quarter, from last quarter to new moon, is the resting period in this tradition. It is set aside for weeding, pruning, turning the soil and composting. That covers December 1 through December 8 and the final day of the month.
Some gardeners also use a second system, the biodynamic calendar of Maria Thun, which sorts days into root, flower, leaf and fruit days by the Moon’s sign instead of by its phase. Both systems appear in the tables below. For background on how the whole practice fits together, see our guide to planting by the moon.
Moon phases in December 2026
Five phase events fall in the month, because the Last Quarter occurs twice, once on the first day and again on the 30th. All times are Eastern.
| Phase | Date and time (ET) |
|---|---|
| Last Quarter | December 1, 1:08 a.m. ET |
| New Moon | December 8, 7:51 p.m. ET |
| First Quarter | December 17, 12:42 a.m. ET |
| Full Moon (Cold Moon) | December 23, 8:28 p.m. ET |
| Last Quarter | December 30, 1:59 p.m. ET |
The month’s full moon is the Cold Moon, the name Old Farmer’s Almanac usage gives to the December full moon. It peaks on December 23 at 8:28 p.m. ET with the Moon in Cancer, a sign this convention labels fruitful. For the custom attached to full moons, see planting on a full moon. The other end of the cycle has its own page on planting during the new moon, and in December that moment comes on the evening of December 8.
Traditional planting days in December 2026
The almanac rule is simple. The quarter of the Moon decides the type of crop, and the sign the Moon is in decides whether the day counts. Signs that this convention labels fruitful (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) and semi-fruitful (Taurus, Libra, Capricorn) give a traditional planting day. Signs it labels barren (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, Aquarius) do not. Sources differ on Virgo, Sagittarius and Aquarius, so some almanacs draw the line in a slightly different place.
| Crop type | Quarter | Days | Moon sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leafy crops | First quarter | December 10-11 | Capricorn |
| Leafy crops | First quarter | December 15-16 | Pisces |
| Fruiting crops | Second quarter | December 20-21 | Taurus |
| Root crops, bulbs, perennials | Third quarter | December 24-25 | Cancer |
| Root crops, bulbs, perennials | Third quarter | December 30 | Libra |
Every crop type has at least one window this month, so none of the three groups comes up empty. Days are read at noon ET, and the Moon changes sign during the day. The first or last day of a window can therefore be partial, and the exact change times are in the next section.
Which days the rule leaves out
Plenty of days inside the quarters do not qualify. In the first quarter, December 9 falls with the Moon in Sagittarius, and December 12 to 14 fall in Aquarius. This convention labels both signs barren. In the second quarter, December 17 to 19 fall in Aries and December 22 and 23 in Gemini, both labeled barren. In the third quarter, December 26 and 27 fall in Leo and December 28 and 29 in Virgo, again barren in this convention. The fourth-quarter days at the start and end of the month are left to the resting tasks.
Windows that start or end partway through a day
Three of the windows have edges that fall at specific clock times. The Moon enters Taurus on December 19 at 3:29 p.m. ET and leaves it on December 21 at 5:27 p.m. ET, so the fruiting window runs between those two moments. The Moon leaves Cancer for Leo on December 25 at 4:12 p.m. ET, so the first root window ends that afternoon. It begins after the full moon at 8:28 p.m. ET on December 23, when the Moon is already in Cancer. The Libra window on December 30 closes when the Last Quarter arrives at 1:59 p.m. ET, since the fourth quarter starts then.
Moon sign changes in December 2026
The Moon spends about two and a half days in each sign, so the month holds thirteen changes. Because the times are Eastern, readers in other time zones should shift them by the clock difference, which can move a change across midnight onto a neighboring date. The first column gives the moment of entry. The Moon is in Virgo from the start of the month until the first change on December 2.
| Date and time (ET) | Moon enters | Sign label | Biodynamic day type |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2, 3:03 p.m. | Libra | Semi-fruitful | Flower day |
| December 4, 11:35 p.m. | Scorpio | Fruitful | Leaf day |
| December 7, 10:06 a.m. | Sagittarius | Barren | Fruit day |
| December 9, 10:08 p.m. | Capricorn | Semi-fruitful | Root day |
| December 12, 11:05 a.m. | Aquarius | Barren | Flower day |
| December 14, 11:35 p.m. | Pisces | Fruitful | Leaf day |
| December 17, 9:34 a.m. | Aries | Barren | Fruit day |
| December 19, 3:29 p.m. | Taurus | Semi-fruitful | Root day |
| December 21, 5:27 p.m. | Gemini | Barren | Flower day |
| December 23, 4:58 p.m. | Cancer | Fruitful | Leaf day |
| December 25, 4:12 p.m. | Leo | Barren | Fruit day |
| December 27, 5:12 p.m. | Virgo | Barren | Root day |
| December 29, 9:26 p.m. | Libra | Semi-fruitful | Flower day |
The sign labels come from the common convention of moon-sign gardening almanacs, and the day types from the biodynamic triplicities of Maria Thun. They are two separate traditions that happen to use the same twelve signs. The Moon enters Cancer on December 23 at 4:58 p.m. ET, a little under four hours before the Cold Moon, which is why the full moon itself sits in Cancer.
Day by day: phase and Moon sign
This table lists the Moon’s sign, quarter, percent lit and direction for each day of the month, read at noon ET.
| Date | Moon sign | Quarter | Percent lit | Waxing or waning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1 | Virgo | 4 | 45% | Waning |
| December 2 | Virgo | 4 | 35% | Waning |
| December 3 | Libra | 4 | 25% | Waning |
| December 4 | Libra | 4 | 17% | Waning |
| December 5 | Scorpio | 4 | 10% | Waning |
| December 6 | Scorpio | 4 | 5% | Waning |
| December 7 | Sagittarius | 4 | 2% | Waning |
| December 8 | Sagittarius | 4 | 0% | Waning |
| December 9 | Sagittarius | 1 | 1% | Waxing |
| December 10 | Capricorn | 1 | 3% | Waxing |
| December 11 | Capricorn | 1 | 6% | Waxing |
| December 12 | Aquarius | 1 | 12% | Waxing |
| December 13 | Aquarius | 1 | 18% | Waxing |
| December 14 | Aquarius | 1 | 26% | Waxing |
| December 15 | Pisces | 1 | 35% | Waxing |
| December 16 | Pisces | 1 | 45% | Waxing |
| December 17 | Aries | 2 | 55% | Waxing |
| December 18 | Aries | 2 | 65% | Waxing |
| December 19 | Aries | 2 | 75% | Waxing |
| December 20 | Taurus | 2 | 84% | Waxing |
| December 21 | Taurus | 2 | 92% | Waxing |
| December 22 | Gemini | 2 | 97% | Waxing |
| December 23 | Gemini | 2 | 100% | Waxing |
| December 24 | Cancer | 3 | 99% | Waning |
| December 25 | Cancer | 3 | 96% | Waning |
| December 26 | Leo | 3 | 90% | Waning |
| December 27 | Leo | 3 | 82% | Waning |
| December 28 | Virgo | 3 | 72% | Waning |
| December 29 | Virgo | 3 | 62% | Waning |
| December 30 | Libra | 3 | 51% | Waning |
| December 31 | Libra | 4 | 41% | Waning |
Noon readings can look odd next to the phase times. December 8 shows 0% lit at noon, hours before the new moon at 7:51 p.m. ET, and December 23 shows 100% lit at noon, hours before the full moon at 8:28 p.m. ET. The quarter number switches on the day after each phase event, which is why December 9 is the first day shown as quarter 1.
Questions about December 2026
When is the full moon in December 2026?
The full moon, the Cold Moon, falls on December 23 at 8:28 p.m. ET, with the Moon in Cancer.
When is the new moon in December 2026?
The new moon falls on December 8 at 7:51 p.m. ET, with the Moon in Sagittarius.
Which days are the Traditional Days for root crops?
The traditional root-crop windows are December 24-25, with the Moon in Cancer, and December 30, with the Moon in Libra. Root crops, bulbs and perennials belong to the third quarter in the almanac tradition, and that quarter ends with the Last Quarter at 1:59 p.m. ET on December 30.
The month closes on December 31 with the Moon in Libra, in the fourth quarter at 41% lit and still waning.