topic Question about growing vegetables in Garden

Question about growing vegetables

Stella Dallas — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 20:37:43 GMT

Hi gang.

I'm going to try my hand this year at growing vegetables. I thought I'd start with something fairly simple so scarlet runner beans is what I'm going to plant, on a trellis.

Here's my question: in general, which kind of light is better: morning light (several hours but they start out cool) or afternoon light (also several hours and the temperature is warmer)?

TIA

Re: Question about growing vegetables

RedTop — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 20:40:55 GMT

Since we have always planted our beans in the garden location where they get the most sun, I vote for afternoon light.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

JustJazzmom — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 21:31:17 GMT

Just remember if you are starting the seeds indoors, be sure to wait till its safe in your area to plant outside. Always plant when the soil is workable. Sounds good to me with PM light.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Katmary — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 21:38:44 GMT

I think it depends on how hot it gets in the afternoon, but in general, the more sun the better. What I read to do on a seed selling site was to track how much sun was in an area, go with the area that gets the most if you have that choice. I found out of two spots I was looking at to grow, one received morning and late afternoon/early evening sun and that was more than the other spot that just received some in the afternoon. It may be worth tracking how much sun is in the area total and go with the longest time, or if you have another possible spot you can compare the two.

I grew runner beans in a barrel late summer and they did great. I went with three different kinds (I think two each at the base of the "tee-pee") and loved harvesting them. I wish I'd grown scarlet, maybe this year!

Another easy one is cherry tomatoes. I started out with herbs, then added tomatoes and peppers. I didn't even like tomatoes until I grew my own! I found instructions to make self-watering containers (like the Earth boxes) out of storage containers and did that with my tomatoes for about 5 years. Peppers do real well with afternoon sun, at least mine did. Good luck!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Mominohio — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 22:00:19 GMT

Unless you are in a very hot southern climate, you will want as much sun as possible, and where ever you can get the most sun, as well as good drainage, is important. We plant our garden near the top of a slope in our backyard. The water will drain well, but it isn't so high on a hill that it dries out too fast. If you are going to use raised beds, know that they will dry out very quickly, and need regular watering as well.

If there is two locations you can choose, and each has a sun/shade part of the the day, I will say that I prefer shade in the morning, because it is cooler, and the sun isn't burning the leaves when they are wet with dew. Also, it is more comfortable and cool to go out in the shade in the morning and weed, till, and pick the garden. Shade in the evening is ok for working in the garden, but it is still hotter work than getting out in that early morning shade.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 23:23:50 GMT

We have been growing 'Scarlet' and 'Painted Lady' Runner Beans for several years on our 10' trellis...FULL sun ALL day long. We have no shade from trees in our yard for any of our 4 gardens.

Below is a pic of one of our gardens with the 10' trellis...HTH

Re: Question about growing vegetables

gardenman — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 23:36:09 GMT

I agree that more sun is better as long as you're not high in the mountains or in a desert. Then a shadier location may be preferable. One of the nice things with beans is they're a legume that uses nitrogen fixing bacteria. That means no fertilizing needs to be done by you as long as the proper bacteria are already in the soil. Those bacteria will take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form of ammonia that the plants will use as fertilizer. You may find you get a better crop by inoculating your bean (or pea) seeds with a nitrogen fixing bacteria inoculant. Nodules of bacteria will form along the plant roots with the bacteria working hard to keep the plants fed and then stockpiling excess nitrogen. That excess nitrogen can then be used by future crops. It'll just sit in the soil until it's needed.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

SuesCat — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 23:39:38 GMT

Susan Louise ~ how in the world do you harvest those beans way up there? I'm not that tall!

Stella ~ good luck with your garden It's been many years since having my own and i do miss it.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

SuesCat — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 23:45:15 GMT

P.S. Susan Louise ~ your gardens and lawn are beautiful! You're giving Ina a run for the money!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:01:39 GMT

On 3/4/2015 SuesCat said:
Susan Louise ~ how in the world do you harvest those beans way up there? I'm not that tall!

Stella ~ good luck with your garden It's been many years since having my own and i do miss it.

Hi SuesCat,

LOL...we grow them for the Hummingbirds, not to eat. However, I will harvest some at the end of the season for seeds the following year (the ones I can reach ). Several plants in our gardens grow up over the fence-line by the time the hummers migrate in the Fall...intentionally planned that way so it's a beacon for any passing. Then they realize, once in our backyard, it is a total oasis for the little bundles of joy with feeders and shorter plants to feed from...

Even when there is no shade in our yard, the hummers will get shade within the bean vines themselves...here's a juvie male happily perched on a bean vine

Re: Question about growing vegetables

SuesCat — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:10:52 GMT

Thanks for the reply ~ What a beautiful pic of the hummingbird and i love how your garden is a place for them to feed and shelter! When i lived in western PA, i always had so many who visited my petunias on the front porch railings. It was so pretty and so zen! Have a wonderful growing season when it gets here for you

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:14:37 GMT

On 3/4/2015 SuesCat said:
Thanks for the reply ~ What a beautiful pic of the hummingbird and i love how your garden is a place for them to feed and shelter! When i lived in western PA, i always had so many who visited my petunias on the front porch railings. It was so pretty and so zen! Have a wonderful growing season when it gets here for you

You're welcome

BTW, I see you are in CT...I lived in Branford, CT for 40 years before moving to NE...just one mile from LI Sound!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

SuesCat — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:28:32 GMT

I'm too chicken to name the town i'm in! I've only been in CT for about 15 yrs; I think it is a beautiful state and i love going out on the sound around Leetes Island in the summertime. We also used to make Jimmy's in W.Haven a regular stop for a lobster roll and Bloody Mary on Sunday afternoons

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:43:56 GMT

On 3/4/2015 SuesCat said:
I'm too chicken to name the town i'm in! I've only been in CT for about 15 yrs; I think it is a beautiful state and i love going out on the sound around Leetes Island in the summertime. We also used to make Jimmy's in W.Haven a regular stop for a lobster roll and Bloody Mary on Sunday afternoons

And I moved to NE 15 yrs ago when I got married!!!

Ah, boy, that brings back memories...love the lobster rolls, fried clams (with the bellies) and their fries too...and those foot long hotdogs!

Ok...now I'm hungry! And memories of good times...I loved taking the drive along the shoreline (I'd either go east to Essex/Old Saybrook or head west through to Milford) in the summertime...my sunroof up, music of the 80's/90's blaring from the radio and the wind in my hair

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Harpa — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:24:45 GMT

On 3/4/2015 RedTop said:
Since we have always planted our beans in the garden location where they get the most sun, I vote for afternoon light.

I do, too, because beans is a warm weather crop, and the afternoon sun would naturally be warmer.

Having your soil warm will also guarantee good seed germination. A day before planting, you may want to put black plastic on the soil for heating.

I love vertical gardening!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:43:37 GMT

On 3/5/2015 Harpa said:
On 3/4/2015 RedTop said:
Since we have always planted our beans in the garden location where they get the most sun, I vote for afternoon light.

I do, too, because beans is a warm weather crop, and the afternoon sun would naturally be warmer.

Having your soil warm will also guarantee good seed germination. A day before planting, you may want to put black plastic on the soil for heating.

I love vertical gardening!

Me too!

One of our gardens is one entire massive trellis for our honeysuckles...

Re: Question about growing vegetables

PenneyT — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:51:43 GMT

Susan Louise, what beautiful gardens! Thanks you for sharing such inspiring photos!!!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

PenneyT — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:55:18 GMT

Stella Dallas, you might want to look up gardening info from your state ag extension; I have a friend who lives in Texas, and she needs state-and-region-specific info because it gets so hot there. She can't even go by the advice on all of the gardening shows she likes to watch because she says by the time they plant, she has to be harvesting before the heat sets in!

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Stella Dallas — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:01:10 GMT

On 3/5/2015 Susan Louise said:
On 3/5/2015 Harpa said:
On 3/4/2015 RedTop said:
Since we have always planted our beans in the garden location where they get the most sun, I vote for afternoon light.

I do, too, because beans is a warm weather crop, and the afternoon sun would naturally be warmer.

Having your soil warm will also guarantee good seed germination. A day before planting, you may want to put black plastic on the soil for heating.

I love vertical gardening!

Me too!

One of our gardens is one entire massive trellis for our honeysuckles...

Wow! That's amazing.

Thank you all for your good advice. I've done some monitoring of my yard for what kind of light goes where, and I found a patch that gets morning sun, is in the shade for less than an hour, and gets afternoon sun the rest of the day, and that's where my beans will go.

Re: Question about growing vegetables

Susan Louise — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 16:25:25 GMT

Hi Stella Dallas, Glad we all could help...and happy you liked the pics. Maybe you can share pics of your garden/s this summer