[rubberfrog]

Hi all

I have started planning for next year and want to utilise some space I have at the side if the shed/greenhouse, the sun riser over the shed so this spot will sort of be in the shade for till approx 3pm, it gets light through the greenhouse roof.  My question would be would it be viable to sort this area for carrots.  I hunted around the net but nothing better than first hand experience, has anyone grown carrots in a shaded area.

Thanks

RF

[Totty]

I wouldn't, they need all the help they can get to produce worthwhile roots. How about lettuce?

Totty

[maxie]

I wouldnt either i have a shady bit right up one side of my plot,anything except comfrey planted in there does very little,i usually leave a 2 foot strip empty but this year i got carried away and planted evrything a foot off and it all didnt grow very well at all in that bit.

[Sparkyrog]

maybe you could plant some shade tolerant flowers 

[rubberfrog]

hmmm looks like I may have to re-think, 

maybe you could plant some shade tolerant flowers 

have you been talking to my wife lol.  it seems such a waste of space.  there must be something I can grow to eat.

[Sparkyrog]

Very few if any food crops will do well in shade 

[surbie100]

I grow carrots on a north-facing balcony. There is sun for a few hours early in the morning and then again in late afternoon/evening. The carrots are pretty good, but not huge. Why don't you try it and see what happens?

[goodtogrow]

I should've thought that most people grow carrots in partial shade because fleece cuts down light, as does fine-mesh netting over brassicas.

If the source of shade is trees and hedges then it's more likely the root competition from them results in poor crop growth, which isn't the case for the op.

I've never gone in for the value of direct sunshine, and set about creating some shade wherever I can.

Tom

[seaside]

Partial shade is not the same thing as being covered by fleece etc. The direct sunlight still gets through the barrier for all the hours of day that the crop is not in shade.

Celery can grow well in almost total shade.

[mumofstig]

If you are saying it gets sun from 3pm onwards it will be fine for growing, salads during the summer months, which often wilt/bolt in full sun. Peas and spinach grow well here in a similar shady spot (behind a fence)

I just found this site which will help 
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/vegetablesherbs/a/shadeveggies.htm

[goodtogrow]

Gotta disagree with you seaside.  Not all of the sunshine gets through the fleece, by any means.

[rubberfrog]

Thanks for the replies, I think i am going to give this a try and see what happens.  Seeds are cheap enough.  I shall combine with some salad stuff lettuce and radish.

Thanks again

RF

[Goosegirl]

Try brassicas such as caulis and calabrese. Grew caulis under my old apple tree before I got my veg garden and they didn't blow as they might in full sun.

[Totty]

Gotta disagree with you seaside.  Not all of the sunshine gets through the fleece, by any means.

If a plant is under fleece or fine mesh, in the sun, for the best part of a day, it receives far more of the light spectrum per day than a plant that is shaded by a shed or a fence for most of the time and then receives some of the weaker rays later in the day.

Disagree with the idea that celery can grow in almost total shade though. It needs at least half a day of sun to do ok.

Totty

[seaside]

In growing terms, patial shade has a temporal meaning, not quantative, a bit like the meteorological confusion over the term showers, but the opposite. While partial might conjure up ideas of dappled sunlight, it actually refers in the main to hours of unshaded sunlight. It was the "partial" shade of my city North facing high walled garden that forced me in the end to get an allotment. Very littlefood grew of any use ... mainly high Summer crops like beans when the high sun gives parts of the garden 4 hours of sunshine a day. Anything requiring an early or late planting never made it to the table in any sort of decent shape .... ok for shrubs, trees and woodland stuff, which is what it is now. Of course, lack of sunshine can also affect the pest situation big time, especially on the slug front.

Didn't know that about celery Totty. I planted mine directly behind the greenhouse dwarf wall purposefully to shade it throughout the day . It seems to be doing better than previous years out in the open on the plot, so I'll keep my fingers crossed... wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake.