Rules of Thumb for Growing Vegetables in Part-Sun
The additional advantage for me in growing leaf, stalk and root veggies is that they tend to like the colder spring and fall weather. I will skip growing the traditional summer veggies (tomatoes, melons, eggplant, corn) and concentrate on one early crop, and a second planting for a fall harvest.
There are a few guidelines for selecting vegetables if you do not have a sunny spot. Generally, anything less that six hours is considered part-sun.
- Don't select plants from the nightshade family. This includes: tomatoes, pepper and eggplant.
- Generally, a vegetable grown for its fruit will not work in anything but full sun. There seem to be a few exceptions to this rule that we will consider later.
- Vegetables that are grown for their leaves, stalks or roots will usually grow in some shade. They do better in full-sun, but will still produce with less than six hours. This includes: broccoli , cabbage, brussels sprouts (veg in the brassica family), kale, spinach, fennel, carrots, beets , radishes and a whole bunch more.
- These leaf, stalk and root vegetables also donÂt need to ripen like a fruit. So, while you must wait for a tomato or pepper to ripen before you eat it, a carrot or onion or cabbage can be eaten and is delicious while it is still a ÂbabyÂ.
- There are some Âfruiting vegetables that will grow in part-sun. These include beans, peas and squashes.
The additional advantage for me in growing leaf, stalk and root veggies is that they tend to like the colder spring and fall weather. I will skip growing the traditional summer veggies (tomatoes, melons, eggplant, corn) and concentrate on one early crop, and a second planting for a fall harvest.
