mostly shade tomatoes and veggies

[tlcmd]

Are there any tomatoes (or any other veggies) which do well in a mostly shaded garden. About 2/3rds of my garden gets bright sun (8+ hrs/day), but I have an area which is shaded for about the same period.. Thinking about next year; anyone know of tomato strains or hybrids (or other veggies)which do well in a 2/3rds of a day shaded part of a garden? I do have a couple of wormwood plants which have done well there (artemesia absinthium and Powis-Castle wormwood).


I am in Greensboro, N.C. zone 7b.


Thanks for any input, especially on the tomatoes..


tlcmd

[Zana]

Following.

[Hatgirl]

Things you don't want to bolt, like radish or salad leaves, might do OK

[ContainerTed]

I used to grow everything in mostly shade and found that only a small reduction in production was the only impact I could detect. I did grow several Russian varieties then, but I had more than half that were domestic varieties. Here's a few of the ones that did outstanding (in my opinion). Stump of the World, Utyonok, Black and Red Boar, Golden Cherokee, Black Cherry, Brianna, West Virginia 63, Liz Birt, Yellow Pear, Azoychka, Mini Gold, Huge Black, Dr. Carolyn, Dr. Carolyn Pink, Brad's Black Heart, and many more from cherry to beefsteak. And, I didn't do any pruning to speak of. And all of my plants were in containers.

Again, I found that my production was usually a little less than the folks who were reporting their "in the sun all day" gardens. Right now, after I've moved from Georgia to Tennessee, my "in the ground" garden gets shade until about 10 o'clock in the morning and then full sun the rest of the day. Down in Georgia with all my containers, I got "indirect sun" for most of the day. Don't underestimate the value of "indirect sun light".

[tlcmd]

Thanks for the info. I'll try one or two varieties. With which have you had the best luck and best fruit (in your opinion). And, a website which lists those would be nice.
Thanks,
tlcmd

[Koala Doug]

I only get 4-5 hours of direct sun a day (5 hours in the spring and down to 4 hours by late July onward). There hasn't been a variety that I couldn't grow - in fact, my only real limitation is container size as I need to move them in and out of the garage at least twice a day.


You could try perusing the selection at Victory Seeds: https://www.victoryseeds.com/

[NarnianGarden]

My current location only gets direct sunlight 4-5 hours a day. There is however daylight much longer than that. I have found that reasonably small determinates are just the right size as for light is concerned. Pearly Pink Orange (wich happens to be very tasty as well) is just perfect. Not too sturdy (and thus breakable), but flexible and resilient enough. It already has several small fruits forming and more flowers coming along every day.
Amber Colored is the same size at the moment (no need for it to get bigger)...

I have another plant, an indet. cherry, which just grew and grew taller, desperately trying to reach enough light. I moved it to another corner and hope to get some fruits there as well. But smallish edterminates is the way to go in such conditions.

[Nan_PA_6b]

This year I'm doing a large growout of F2's. I don't have sunny spots to put all of them. Those in only 5 hours of sunlight, I put down white garden cloth to give them a bit more reflected light. It doesn't stop the weeds; they grow some under the cloth, but I'm getting tomatoes from all these plants. Probably fewer & smaller than with full sun, but successful enough that you ought to try growing tomatoes.


Black Cherry grows in part shade.


Nan

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

Don't underestimate the value of "indirect sun light".

I fully agree. An airy space with little direct sunlight can grow things well. Things like tall trees, bushes, etc, they all block light that comes from the sky or absorb light reflected from other things.

[AlittleSalt]

I have grown Porter and Texas Wild Cherry in dappled shade. The plants were half as big as those grown in full sun, but they still produced well.

[zipcode]

Micro toms are known to be more shade friendly. From the bigger varieties I think you need to try many to see what does well. And of course, prune to one stem and proper spacing.

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by Koala Doug

I only get 4-5 hours of direct sun a day (5 hours in the spring and down to 4 hours by late July onward). There hasn't been a variety that I couldn't grow - in fact, my only real limitation is container size as I need to move them in and out of the garage at least twice a day.

That is where small-ish bushes / vines that can be planted in reasonable sizd containers come in handy. I rotate my containers around a bit. While it does not change the amount of light they get, it gives them slightly different angles of it.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Mustard greens grow well in shady places. Bok Choi, Roma beans and Rhubarb grow in 4-5 hours of sun.

[Koala Doug]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

That is where small-ish pushes / vines that can be planted in reasonable sizd containers come in handy. I rotate my containers around a bit. While it does not change the amount of light they get, it gives them slightly different angles of it.

I do something similar - I have a mark on each of the containers so all them have the same alignment. Then, each day when I bring them back out the driveway, I rotate the containers 90 degrees.

[taboule]

Doug, I'm curious about your comment

>>>...as I need to move them in and out of the garage at least twice a day.

I understand this is for early spring (and late fall?) when it's still cold, or during the entire season?

Thanks