Too late to change Dealing with SHADE

[Bill who putters]

Well I did 12 12 hour readings with a fancy light meter and got the results I could get by eye. Essentiality I have partial sun this with no leaves out yet. I just positioned a raised bed 8*12 that gets most light from about ten on. I grow others stuff too in a mixed shade like rosemary etc. Looks like salads only an maybe cherry tomatoes.

My question ...is morning or afternoon sun power differing in plant growth nurture ? I'm going with late morning to night as best no reason other than a few sun burns. Grasping for light as my main garden is now about to be covered in 3 commercial green houses. The soil that we nursed will have containers on it. Such is life.

[Frank]

I do fine growing tomatoes and peppers in containers on west facing deck

- sun from ~11 am til dark. Deer and shade did in my large garden a few years ago. Just mom and I don't need all that much now.

Most of shade from large Chinese chestnut trees and I give a lot of nuts to one neighbor who gives us his extra vegetables.

[David Hare-Scott]

The energy of the sun is equal either side of local noon, by that I mean when the sun is highest in the sky not when your clock says 12, this can be either side of 12 noon by the clock depending on where you are in your time zone. So 2 hours before noon and two hours after noon (by the sun) the light has the same energy.

Some plants can close their stomata when water stressed to conserve water but this has the side effect of shutting down photosynthesis. Gardeners sometimes prefer plants to have morning rather than afternoon sun as the air is probably cooler and so, especially in summer, plants can take better advantage of the sunlight for photosynthesis even if it has the same energy because they are less water stressed.

David