ChrisC_77
Senior Member
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:00 pm
Location: West Virginia (Zone 6)

Hind sight 20/20. Partial shade in garden.

This was my 1st year doing a real garden. I broke the ground in early April. It is 14x9. I was quite happy and excited. Then in may, I realized that the canopy from my neighbors try hangs over 1/2 of the garden. Now I planted about 30 pea plants in the shadiest part and got about 130 pods. I also planted 6 cabbages and got 6 heads anywhere form 3-5 inches. I had corn and it failed. But I had corn beside the garage and it did nice for being only one row. But I was dedicated to hand pollinating. I have nice tomato plants, but all are still green. I think I got them started late. Plus a ton of rain in late June.

I get about 4-5 hours of morning sun. There are small portions that get less than that. I say I get sun from about 7am-12pm.

So here is my plan. I plan on adding an additional garden in a full sun area. Here is what I want to grow over all. Would some of these do well in the limited sun plot? Maybe cabbage, peas, potatoes, sugarbaby watermelons and hubbard squash? I have read that melons and squashes can tolerate shady areas.

Here is my list of what I want to grow. Not all at the same time as I will do spring, summer, fall when possible.

Earliana Tomato, Muncher, Cucumber, Kentucky Wonder Pole beans, Sugar Baby Watermelons, Green Arrow Peas, Golden Bantam Corn, Copenhagen Market, Cabbage, Purple Plum Radish, Golden Hubbard Squash, Charentais Cantaloupe, Danvers Carrots, Golden California Wonder Bell Peppers, and some type of sweet onions.

Thanks. I will get a pick up later.

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rainbowgardener
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Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

It is very difficult to answer any questions regarding gardening without knowing where you are located. If you are in a hot summer area, many things benefit from protection from hot afternoon sun. In less hot and sunny areas, fewer kinds of plants will do well in the shadier areas.

ChrisC_77
Senior Member
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:00 pm
Location: West Virginia (Zone 6)

rainbowgardener wrote:It is very difficult to answer any questions regarding gardening without knowing where you are located. If you are in a hot summer area, many things benefit from protection from hot afternoon sun. In less hot and sunny areas, fewer kinds of plants will do well in the shadier areas.

I am in WV (zone 6) Springs are typically rain on and off with temps around 40s to upper 60's on average. Summer can vary quite a bit. Sometimes very dry...other times lots of rain like it is this year. Temps in summer are typically mid 80's for daytime highs. Although we can have stretches of days that are 95+ for days on end. Fall is mild as well. Much like spring, only drier.

ChrisC_77
Senior Member
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:00 pm
Location: West Virginia (Zone 6)

Here are 4 pics of my garden on days with full sun. 2 we taking on 7/13 and 2 just now.
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imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I live in a much warmer zone (12a), In the cooler months I plant cabbages, lettuce, brussels sprouts, broccoli, spinach out in the full sun, but during the summer I plant these under the citrus tree which gets dappled light. I have trimmed my tree to keep the center open. It is better aeration for the tree and keeps it short. It also allows more light in than it would if I let the canopy get as large and thick as it would normally get.

It probably is a good idea to create a patch that is in full sun for your sun loving plants. In the shadier patch you may still be able to grow some things like the cabbage, lettuce, spinach, green onions, cilantro, swiss chard, peas, kale, parsley, bok choy, and carrots in summer. Your average temperatures are what I get at the coolest and wettest time of the year.

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veggiedan
Cool Member
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:18 pm
Location: Central TX 8b

Let's be careful here, because protective shade in summer isn't a function of the standard gardening zone numbers. Those numbers are a real headache because all they tell you is how bad it gets in the winter. They say nothing about summer. I'm in 8b (Central Texas), but in Heat Zone 10. That means my summer temps are routinely over 100F. Hawaii (where I've lived) won't come close to that kind of heat.

Right now it is "high summer" here in HZ 10, and shade protection is fantastically important. My main garden gets 50% sun, which is plenty, throughout the year, though I have a patch in full sun, where I'm growing cukes. That patch needs some extra shade right now, and I've mulched the bejesus out of it. I deep-water it every two or three days. Full sun in 100F temps is just hellish for any vegetable.

My impression is that full sun in cooler climates is of special value mainly in warming the soil.



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