Monday 14 November 2016

Is sap in trees affected by the Full Moon?

In his book Wildwood, Roger Deakin alleges that the Full Moon makes sap rise in trees. The logic is that the Moon is responsible for pulling the tide up so it should pull up sap. And that affects when to cut trees because you may or may not want them full of sap. This is said to affect whether they are likely to warp or not. But the Moon... the tides work by the Moon's gravity creating two maxima in the waters of the sea, one on the side nearest the Moon and the other on the opposite side. Effectively the Earth spins underneath this so high tide is when we move into the deeper water. Sap is not a free-moving liquid on the surface of the Earth so I'm skeptical. I'd need to know more about the dynamics of sap inside trees but logic would suggest that it should have two peaks in its height in the tree every day. I've not seen anyone suggest this.