Hello! I wanted to start a small garden on my balcony, but I do not get direct sunlight (balcony faces the north). Are there any good plants that grow well in the shade. I had to give my tomatoes to a friend so they could produce. Thanks!
Can you Garden in the Shade?
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Spinach possibly. I'd suggest asking the local extension agent what might grow in your area. Would adding a grow light be a possibility? Perhaps one you can move indoors when the weather is bad.
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For a balcony, I would try salad greens.
One summer I was able to buy more preps, because we had home-grown salad several times a week. In the early stages I was only able to add a few leaves to our bought lettuce, but as time went by the salad plants were a foot tall, and I was able to reduce the vegetable bill to very little.
One summer I was able to buy more preps, because we had home-grown salad several times a week. In the early stages I was only able to add a few leaves to our bought lettuce, but as time went by the salad plants were a foot tall, and I was able to reduce the vegetable bill to very little.
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Although no vegetable will grow in full, dense shade (at least not to full harvest maturity), you can grow salad greens like spinach, swiss chard, kale, mesclun (salad mix), mustard greens, etc. in mostly shady areas. I have even gotten green onions to grow in a mostly shady area, but they don't seem to get very tall.
Depending on the amount of sun you have (up to about an hour morning or night [preferably morning sun]) you can grow a wide variety of veggies i.e. Asparagus, Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Peas, Potatoes (Softer ones like Red golds and Yukons), Radishes, Rhubarb, Sweet Potatoes, and Turnips (they come out smaller)
I have even grown carrots and green onions year round by burying them under a huge pile of leaves in the winter. :thumb:
But, anyhoo, you may want to look into getting some grow lights and build your mini green house. You can start your seeds any time of year inside. Just keep them warm. They don't need any sunlight to get going. I just watched a video a few weeks ago where a guy got together mung, Alfalfa, Broccoli and lentil seeds and would make salads out of the youngins. He also had whole wheat berries and Minnesota wild rice (but, I am too cheap to pay that ridiculous price for rice.
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Depending on the amount of sun you have (up to about an hour morning or night [preferably morning sun]) you can grow a wide variety of veggies i.e. Asparagus, Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Peas, Potatoes (Softer ones like Red golds and Yukons), Radishes, Rhubarb, Sweet Potatoes, and Turnips (they come out smaller)
I have even grown carrots and green onions year round by burying them under a huge pile of leaves in the winter. :thumb:
But, anyhoo, you may want to look into getting some grow lights and build your mini green house. You can start your seeds any time of year inside. Just keep them warm. They don't need any sunlight to get going. I just watched a video a few weeks ago where a guy got together mung, Alfalfa, Broccoli and lentil seeds and would make salads out of the youngins. He also had whole wheat berries and Minnesota wild rice (but, I am too cheap to pay that ridiculous price for rice.
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I haven't found much of anything that will prosper in shade except a few perennial flowers. Doesn't take me too long to figure out that I'm too close that tree, shed or building that throws a shadow. Any type containers or Walnut trees, too. Something to do with the roots?
I have found that rhubarb does better in the afternoon shade.
I have found that rhubarb does better in the afternoon shade.
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Based on your User ID, I have to ask if you are in Florida? It makes a huge difference. A shady, northern lit balcony in Florida gets more light than some areas of the country. I have a covered deck outside my kitchen that gets southern, western, and northern exposure. In the winter, I have all the potted herbs, etc. on the southern side. About May of each year I move them all to the northern side to a spot that gets no direct sun but gets plenty of light anyway. The summer sun kills them off if I leave them on the Southern side and I would never put them on the western side.
Yes, I am in Florida. I also have a large tree right in front of my balcony. It's on the third floor of an apartment complex. I get 0% (none at all) direct light hitting the any part of the balcony.
The lettuce sounds like a great idea, as well as spinach. My wife thinks I'm half rabbit. Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll post picks of the tomatoes I was starting to grow before I moved them to my friend's house as well as the lettuce once I get that started. I get the sense that people like pictures of progress around here.
The lettuce sounds like a great idea, as well as spinach. My wife thinks I'm half rabbit. Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll post picks of the tomatoes I was starting to grow before I moved them to my friend's house as well as the lettuce once I get that started. I get the sense that people like pictures of progress around here.
Update
Here are some pictures as promised. Not much, but it is a start. The picture at night was after a week to 2 weeks with morning sun. I seem to be having trouble attaching some of the photos.
Attachments
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It's a start all right! If you're having trouble with photos you might consider uploading them to Photobucket and using the img code to link them in. That's what I do.
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This past winter, sometime before Christmas, I had a sweet onion sprout in the pantry. Stuck it in a ziplock bag up on the top shelf (sealed) with a few squirts of water once or twice a week. Grew out of the bag after about two weeks and was moved to a pot (no soil) next to the kitchen sink. I have a small window that gets direct sunlight for about a half hour in the mid mornings (it's along a driveway, and neighbor's house is about 20 feet away). I don't open the curtains every day, but maybe three or four times a week on really sunny days. Every two weeks I have to cut it down to a foot tall. It has grown to at least 3feet tall with green onion with just water and some partial sunlight. We are finishing the coldest, snowiest winter on record. Stuff grows like crazy. First attempt too.
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Seed sprouting I picked up one of those 30 dollar starter kits last year. I hope to expand
One way to find out if you're gaining ANY light rays at all would be to position one of those stick in the ground type solar lights sold individually in the center of your garden plot during early morning, then wait to see how low or bright it shines at night. Take note of how long it last too as an indicator of strength in light rays. Point is, not all shade is the same.
You might also fool your garden by purchasing one or more (as needed) clamp style work lights, the kind with the aluminum shade around it (under $10 Walmart), using an ordinary light bulb. A 75 watt bulb has the potential to imitate sunlight but of course you don't want to position it TO close to the plants or they'll burn. Using a lower wattage, aluminum foil wrapped, crimped or taped into place to the garden pot(s) not on the plant itself will help reflect the light back. This might also work in natural light.
*Note: Music helps plants grow faster and healthier...for real. It's growth will actually SHOW you what kind of music it likes best, i.e., country-western, classical, rock, etc.
Oh...and add radishes to the shade list, lol. Good Luck
You might also fool your garden by purchasing one or more (as needed) clamp style work lights, the kind with the aluminum shade around it (under $10 Walmart), using an ordinary light bulb. A 75 watt bulb has the potential to imitate sunlight but of course you don't want to position it TO close to the plants or they'll burn. Using a lower wattage, aluminum foil wrapped, crimped or taped into place to the garden pot(s) not on the plant itself will help reflect the light back. This might also work in natural light.
*Note: Music helps plants grow faster and healthier...for real. It's growth will actually SHOW you what kind of music it likes best, i.e., country-western, classical, rock, etc.
Oh...and add radishes to the shade list, lol. Good Luck
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This is a good topic. I am more interested on shade and fruit trees so far it seems the more sun, the more fruit you get. The loquats seem so far to be most tolerant of some shading and are yet able to product fruit. My larger loquats are all seedlings in origin.
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100% shade - no
80% shade - yes
...
Obscure but interesting point - - - "solar saturation"
( http://tribes.tribe.net/permacult/thread/6ef985a6-1fc4-46d5-b5ab-6d04329afacd ... scroll down to : Food and Permaculture - by David Blume)
and find it corroborated in the following PDF.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201200218/pdf
Solar saturation is the point at which a plant's photosynthetic machinery is overwhelmed by excess sunlight and shuts down.
...........
" Photosynthesis is most efficient at low light intensities. It is already saturated at 20% of full sunlight and 80% of the light is not used."
...........
80% shade - yes
...
Obscure but interesting point - - - "solar saturation"
( http://tribes.tribe.net/permacult/thread/6ef985a6-1fc4-46d5-b5ab-6d04329afacd ... scroll down to : Food and Permaculture - by David Blume)
and find it corroborated in the following PDF.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201200218/pdf
Solar saturation is the point at which a plant's photosynthetic machinery is overwhelmed by excess sunlight and shuts down.
...........
" Photosynthesis is most efficient at low light intensities. It is already saturated at 20% of full sunlight and 80% of the light is not used."
...........
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I quickly went through posted links, first is little value to me. The second one is from the German Chemical Society which should at least be the equivalent of the American Chemical Society and with reliable information. That article was directed from an engineering and economic point of view about biofuel. When I get around to it I will look for some articles from university level agronomists that directed at the actual growing of food crops because there are various practical details that someone like myself would benefit from knowing.
At a recent UF IFAS presentation a bit north of Pensacola, FL on pomegranates by one of their researchers I did ask a quick question about shade. The response is for my part of FL (which may or may apply your local conditions): He stated afternoon shade (he did not say how much) was often beneficial to plants during the hotter months. Reason after saturation of the photosynthetic system due to full sunlight photosynthesis was maxed out. But in full sunlight of the afternoon, as temperatures rose, respiration could be faster than photosynthetic output leading to a net loss of production. It is better to get your information from someone that specializes in plant growing.
I do know that a lot of shade is not good for fruit trees in general and also many veggies. I have currently no practical way for a quantitative measurement of the degree of shade. Seedlings in a forest understory will set for years growing very little. Knock down some tall trees letting in sunlight and they take off. I do know that a lot of shade is bad and that 100% sunlight is not at sometimes optimal. And I still have a lot to learn.
PS: there are variations in photosynthesis chemistry with some being more efficient than others and I did not ask that agronomist about corn and late afternoon efficiencies.
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Why not buy a few parabolic reflectors to direct a little sunlight onto the plants that need more light? You can buy them relatively cheap online. They use them for reflecting grow lights and aquarium lights.
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