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I would like to attempt my first square foot garden next season. I have a number of large trees on my property, which keeps a good part of it shaded. The location of the garden gets diffused sun all morning but gets 4 hours of full midday sun: 11am-3pm.
Will this be enough for a square foot garden?
I would like to grow tomatoes, peppers, basil and other herbs, garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, eggplant, melons, pumpkins, squash, and zucchini.
I've heard that you can put aluminum foil down to get more sunlight and keep pests away.
Some plants grow better in partial shade. Just read the labels on the seed packet. My mother always tried to grow her cucumbers in shade, green beans will do good in shade. We lived on a farm acreage and she had three different gardens. One in the shade with tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, etc. Anything that contained a lot of water. Sweet potatoes were usually grown in full sun and sandy soil and in the Spring, she would plant a garden of green peas, onions and young Irish potatoes up on a more dry area. We got a lot of rain in the Spring.
I once tried to grow tomatoes in a yard that had received only 4 hours of sunlight on that area. (The whole yard only got about 4 hours in each area as the sun moved across it.) They didn't grow well and never did ripen on the vine. I hope yours do better.
You can always plant tomato plants in large pots where they will get sun..
Also be sure to plant a few marigolds in your square foot beds, they keep insects away ..
I have real good luck with my tomatos in pots..
Good luck
Pot idea- I've seen it produce well for a neighbor even if I didn't try it myself. I donated an empty drywall mud bucket to the cause and she dressed it up in mylar 4th of july colors. The most patriotic tomato plant you ever saw.
Stick with partial shade plants for your square foot bed. Melons, pumpkins and squash tend to sprawl, so best you keep that in mind in your sq ft arrangement. Rookie me planted cucumbers without vertical guide in the center row of my terraced garden and they obnoxiously tried to wrap tendrils around everything 2 rows away. Live you learn.
You can always plant tomato plants in large pots where they will get sun..
Also be sure to plant a few marigolds in your square foot beds, they keep insects away ..
I have real good luck with my tomatos in pots..
Good luck
Great comment about the tomatoes. They need 6-8 hours a day at least.
How much? Well, gardeners in places where you would think tomatoes would grow over an extended season will tell you many varieties just give up sometime in September to October due to the shorter days and weaker sunlight.
It isn't just the length of direct sun. The total length of daylight is important too.
My experience has been that the larger tomatoes (beefsteaks, etc) need the most sun. Cherry tomatoes get by with less. The varieties Patio and Red Robin would be a good to try out as well. The latter is an excellent small tomato.
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