Vegetables that Grow in Shade

For growing vegetables in shady areas, you should select those varieties that can tolerate shade conditions. Some of the vegetables that grow in shade include herbs, brassicas (mustard, cabbage) and other green leafy vegetables.

Maintaining a vegetable garden is not just a recreational hobby, for you can also enjoy garden fresh, healthy and pesticide-free vegetables. However, the most common problem is the planting site, as not of all us are lucky to have proper gardens that meet the necessary requirements for growing vegetables. Apart from healthy soil, vegetables require sunlight (at least for some hours) for their proper growth and development. Many vegetables show poor and stunted growth with disease infestations, if they are planted in shaded areas.

You can still maintain a shade garden with healthy vegetables, provided that you select the types of vegetables carefully. Do not grow them based on what you and your family members enjoy eating, rather, choose vegetables that grow in shade. If you research about shade tolerant plant varieties, you can find a number of vegetables that grow well in shade. Hence with a little effort, you can provide your family with healthy and nutritious vegetables all the year round. Read more on vegetable gardening tips.

Vegetables that Grow in Shade

Like any other gardening project, selection of correct vegetable varieties is an important step for maintaining a healthy vegetable garden. While speaking about the vegetables that grow in shade, you will find that most of the green leafy varieties perform well in shade conditions. Depending upon whether the planting site receives partial sunlight or not, you can consider growing the following vegetables:

Lettuce

Lettuce, one of the tasty and healthy ingredients for salads, grow well in partial shade. The advantage of lettuce and other leafy vegetable is that you can harvest them at any stage. Grow lettuce in areas that receive sunlight for about 4 - 6 hours a day.

Beetroot

Beets and beans are nutritious vegetables that grow in partial shade. Grow beets in rows and make sure to plan the rows in east-west length. By doing so, the vegetables can harvest maximum sunlight for better growth.

Broccoli

Vegetables belonging to the family Brassicaceae thrive well in shaded areas. So, you can grow healthy broccoli, even if your yard does not receive sunlight at all. The only hurdle is to control weeds and supplement the soil with farmyard compost. Read more on weed control.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is also a shade-loving vegetable, that can tolerate partial shade conditions. If trees are the reason for the shade, you can consider thinning the branches, to increase light penetration in the gardening site. Check for powdery mildew and other diseases that usually infest cauliflowers.

Onions

Onions are another vegetable, that grow well in shade. Use healthy bulbs of onions for growing in your shady yard. As long as regular watering is done, these bulb vegetables will grow well. You can harvest the onion leaves regularly for flavoring soup recipes and salads.

Herbs

Culinary herbs like cardamom, parsley, garlic, mint and chives grow well in partial to complete shade areas. So plant these herbs and harvest the fresh leaves for seasoning soups. You can also dry these herbs for prolonged usage. Read more on growing culinary herbs.

Many hobbyists ask whether they can grow tomatoes in shade or not. Crops like tomatoes, corn and pepper require at least six hours of sunlight daily. Hence, if planted in complete shade, you may not succeed in harvesting healthy tomatoes. An alternative is to grow tomatoes in pots and containers, so that you can transfer them in sunlit areas for better performance. Read more on tips for growing tomatoes in pots and containers.

No doubt, all vegetables grow better in sunlight. But with a little planning and selecting vegetables that grow in shade, you can still enjoy fresh vegetables in every season. Thus, growing vegetables in shade will be productive and successful, only if you are choosy about the vegetable type that you plant in your garden.