Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers all require ample sunlight for flowering and fruit production; they require six or more hours per day of full sunshine in order to thrive and produce fruit. But there are other plants which produce healthy harvests with reduced exposure.
Learning to understand your garden’s light conditions by tracking the sun throughout the day will allow for successful growing conditions for leafy greens, wildflowers and landscape plants that flourish in partial shade conditions.
Leafy Vegetables
Just as factories require power for proper functioning, plants rely on sunlight to convert its energy into food they can use. While they will survive with less sunlight than ideal, their full potential won’t be met and thrived with.
Seed packages often recommend planting vegetables in “full sun.” This means ensuring the area in which they’re planted receives no shade for at least six hours each day; leafy veggies like lettuce, spinach, kale and Swiss chard can tolerate some shade but require at least three or four hours of direct sun each day for optimal growth.
Many other leafy vegetables such as pak choi, salad rocket (arugula), chard and silverbeet (swiss chard) thrive when exposed to partial shade or even areas that receive only limited direct sunlight each day. These hardy plants have proven themselves ideal candidates for growing in such locations despite not receiving direct sunlight at any point throughout the day.
Radishes, beets and carrots can thrive under partial or even total shade as long as they receive four to six hours of direct sun each day. While this means maturation will take longer, edible roots still may produce tasty crops for your kitchen garden!
Squash and eggplant, for instance, are particularly sensitive to low light conditions; they require at least six hours of direct sun each day in order to thrive and set fruit. Even in areas that receive partial shade during the afternoon sun hours, squash and eggplant crops can still be successfully grown with careful site selection and by providing support structures like trellises that allow them to reach sunlight more readily.
As spring approaches, it is wise to visit your planned vegetable gardening location on a sunny day and observe it thoroughly. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, purchasing a solar calculator can help measure how much sun an area receives on any given day.
Root Vegetables
Though full sun is best for most vegetable plants, it isn’t always practical. Shadows cast by nearby trees and structures during the hotter hours of the day may prevent your garden from receiving enough light to keep its leaves, stems, and fruit looking lush and healthy. In such instances, partial shade crops such as cucumbers can still flourish nicely if growing them is desired.
Leafy vegetables like kale, lettuce, silverbeet, spinach, chard and arugula as well as many landscape plants like coral bells (Heuchera spp) and false spirea (Astilbe spp) thrive in moderate shaded garden spots where as little as 3-6 hours of direct sunlight per day may reach them. Carrots, radishes and onion family vegetables will still reach maturity and produce harvests over time just like they would in full sunlight conditions.
Vegetables that flower or produce fruit, such as tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, cucumbers, strawberries and squash require a minimum of six hours of direct sun per day; though hot Southern gardens may tolerate even more. A partially shaded garden will still produce harvestable crops if planted near where the most sunlight occurs throughout the day.
Others, such as peppers and squash, are less light-sensitive and can thrive even in gardens receiving only five to six hours of direct sunlight daily; they just take longer to reach maturity than if grown under full sunlight. To get the most out of a partially shaded garden, it’s essential to select vegetables and flowers with quick growth rates that do not need as much direct sunlight; such as chard, kale, lettuce and arugula. These quick-growing varieties will establish quickly and yield results much quicker than more complex or slow-growing vegetables like eggplants, tomatoes, or gourds. To be successful with shade gardens it is key to water carefully yet sparingly; less sunlight means reduced photosynthesis and vitality of your plants.
Fruit-Bearing Vegetables
An idyllic vegetable garden filled with leafy greens, root vegetables and fruiting vines is every gardener’s ideal. However, if the area where you wish to plant lacks sufficient sunlight for optimal growing conditions then you might be disappointed by how few vegetables you can grow due to many needing large amounts of direct sun in order to reach maturity and produce beautiful harvests.
Tomatoes are one of the most sun-loving vegetables, needing at least six hours of direct sunlight each day to achieve vibrant hues and flavors. Other plants that need plenty of exposure include peppers, eggplants and melons; although these require longer maturation periods than their leafy or root vegetable counterparts.
Vegetables that require less sun but still require plenty of direct sun to thrive are known as partial shade vegetables and usually listed at garden centers as such. If provided enough dappled shade from nearby trees in their garden space, partial sun vegetables may even do well with only four or five hours of direct sun daily!
Some leafy and root vegetables actually prefer partial shade over full sunlight, as they’re more tolerant of shade than their fruit-producing cousins. Kale, collards and other leafy greens along with carrots and radishes thrive best under partial shade conditions while asparagus can also be grown this way provided it receives full sun during parts of its day as dappled light still exists throughout its daily cycle.
If your garden lacks enough sun to grow the vegetables you love, consider planting them in containers on your deck or patio instead. Many vegetables thrive when grown in containers and can easily be moved indoors when temperatures cool off; that way you can enjoy them through summer before moving them indoors when temperatures decrease again in autumn or winter. Just make sure your planters remain adequately watered!
Shade-Tolerating Vegetables
Although most vegetables require full sun, you can still grow delicious and nutritious veggies in partial shade with careful cultivation. Knowing which crops thrive under shade and what level of lighting they require is key. Before starting planting, take a walk around your yard and observe where sunlight falls throughout the day – make a note on where sunlight falls by sketching a quick map (no need for landscape architects!) of where sunlight hits different areas in your garden – mark any spots with morning or afternoon sun as well as partial or deep shade on this map.
Leafy vegetables that don’t produce fruits such as kale, spinach, collards and Swiss chard are easy to cultivate in shade conditions; all they require for proper growth is between 3-6 hours of direct sunlight per day. You will enjoy growing these satisfying harvests!
Culinary herbs are equally shade tolerant, needing only three hours of sunlight a day to thrive. Examples include chives, garlic, cilantro, parsley, mint and oregano. If fruiting vegetables are your thing then fruiting beans such as bush varieties rather than viney varieties will thrive even with five hours of direct sun daily exposure – I have had great success doing just this myself!
Root vegetables like carrots, radishes, beets and onions thrive when grown in shade conditions; however, their roots require additional irrigation than when planted directly in sunlight.
If your vegetable garden cannot be located in direct sunlight, consider using a shade cloth to limit how much direct sun will reach its plants and deter weeds from competing with them for moisture. Be wary not to overwater shaded plants – too much moisture forces their energy away and leaves them vulnerable to fungal disease; rather slow-water them throughout the week for maximum efficiency.