Tonio
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Loss of direct sun hours

Did Earth get bumped off the axis or something? This year I am getting less direct sun light compared to last 2 years- and the beds have not been moved :shock:

Whats up with that?

Most of my fall/winter crops-sans the broccoli/greens bed, are doing lousy :(

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!potatoes!
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what's casting the shadow that keeps the direct light from happening? a tree that's grown?

Tonio
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no tree growth, its actually the suns angle is far south this year and casts the house shadow 3 more feet than previous years. Beds are on the north side of the house. So as the sun goes across the southern sky , it drops earlier as it moves westerly making the shadow longer on the eastern side of the yard.

Previously had about 6hrs, now only about 4 .

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rainbowgardener
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You are comparing to the same date last year? The sun does change angles through the season. In the winter the light is coming from much farther south than in the summer. That's why for passive solar, we build houses with big south facing windows and little to no north facing windows, to catch the sun when we want the heat and block it in summer when we don't want it.

Tonio
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Yes, compared to previous years in November. I can't imagine what will happen next month.
It took a year to figure out the suncast angle through each season just to plan the bed positions- in a urban setting shadow pollution ( as it were).

Tonio
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Wait, didn't the earthquake off of Japan/tsunami this year create a change in the earths magnetic north positioning.

Tonio
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oh, that was last year-man time flies.

But- ah ha, it did till the axis, but it didn't appear to effect the suns angle.....
https://www.sott.net/article/225741-Japans-quake-shifts-earths-axis-by-25-centimetres

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jal_ut
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If nothing else the sun is predictable. You can predict its location any day of the year from any point on Earth. If you care to do the research, you can find the formulas and plot these sun angles for your lot and then with a graph showing the trees and buildings and their heights, you can plot on paper where your sunny areas are.

I did the research when I built my passive solar house as I needed the info on how much overhang to put on the roof edges so the windows would be shaded by a certain day of the year, so solar gain would cease for the hot summer. That is; the windows would be shaded all summer, yet as the sun moved southward in the fall the windows would again see sun to let in solar energy. Before the house was built I knew what date the windows would be in total shade. To my pride and amazement it happened just as predicted after the house was built.

I don't know what you are experiencing there, but will guarantee the sun's angle today at noon was the same as it was on this date last year at noon.

Alas winter days are short and the sunlight has to travel through much more air to get to us because of its low angle. Any pollution soaks up some of its energy so it is not as bright as the sun in June. Add that to the cooler temps and shorter hours, and its no wonder things grow slow this time of year. You are lucky to have any growth at all. Here it is too cold to grow anything but icicles.

Chin up, on December 21 the days will start to get longer. :)

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applestar
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I don't know if this applies or not, but in my SE and NE side of the house garden beds, the shadow of the pointed peak of the roof covers the beds as the sun travels and then once the peak is past, the sun shines on the beds again until the actual angle of the sun lengthens the shadow to completely obscure the beds....

In summertime, in addition to the sun being higher, because the sun sets further north of west, the beds get much more sunlight after the roof peak passes.

BTW, since the sun has been traveling lower in the sky and trees have been losing their leaves, some corners of the garden that were previously shaded and dark by overhead and opposite side of the garden trees are getting spotlighted by the rectangles of sunlight reflecting off the windows. 8)

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rainbowgardener
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Jal is right: I don't know what you are experiencing there, but will guarantee the sun's angle today at noon was the same as it was on this date last year at noon.

And if somehow that had changed (earth bumped out of its orbit, axis tilt changed etc) we would all know about it. Not only that it would be all over the media, but changes in climate patterns, tides, etc all around the world would be way worse than Hurricane Sandy....

So if your beds are truly getting less sun than previous years, something else must have changed, someone else's trees that grew, a new house or billboard or something was put up. The patio in my backyard where I have a couple raised beds is way shadier than it was 11 years ago when we bought the house, because the trees around it have all grown.

Tonio
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jal_ut wrote: Here it is too cold to grow anything but icicles.

Chin up, on December 21 the days will start to get longer. :)
Thanks James, So CAL weather is the reason I moved here. I don't miss icicles at all :)

Yes, waiting for winter solstice on Dec 21st @ 11:21AM !! :D

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jal_ut
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Yes, it will soon get better. I am stuck with icicles for a while yet. I will just have to keep looking at pix of last summer to keep my spirits up.

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/June/james_peak_june21.jpg[/img]



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