Gardening in the Shade

I love to experiment with my garden so that I can find what works and what doesn't. This year, through experimentation, I have learned:

1. The best way to get rid of aphids.
   Rinse aphids off of plants with cold water, then rub the undersides of affected leaves with peppermint.
2. The natural additives to soil that make plants look bigger and better.
   Epsom salts are a big, cheap way to improve the health and appearance of garden plants.
3. Not all hand soaps are created equally.
   Anti-bacterial hand soap is toxic to leaves.

Now, I am experimenting with shade.

A couple of weeks ago, I was given a ridiculous number of tomato and pepper plants. Well, four tomato plants, but a ridiculous number of pepper plants. I planted a couple of tomato plants in my sunny garden and placed a pepper in a planter on my deck. Being out of room and in the midst of re-landscaping the front yard, I decided to give shade planting a try.

First, I turned to my close, personal friend, the Internet. I posed the question: "Can I grow pepper plants in shaded gardens?" The answer was mixed. Some sites state that peppers actually do better in partial sun to shade. Others said that peppers need at least eight hours of direct sun every day. Let the experiments begin!

The area where I am placing my peppers is a shady spot that gets indirect sunlight about half of the day and no sunlight the rest. Most of the peppers are in containers, though I did place a couple in an the raised bed pictured above. I have also placed two tomato plants in this bed as well as a basil plant and a number of marigolds.

Next to the raised bed are a number of containers. There is coleus. There is a sweet potato vine. There is aloe. And there are peppers and basil. This spot is mostly shaded throughout the day.

Because these plants are getting far less sun, I am also watering them less often. I'm sticking to watering all of the plants about twice each week. I have treated them all with epsom salt. I have used compost, and I have mulched. Thus far, the plants don't look like they are ready to die, but they don't look like they are ready to fruit either. Most of what I've read says that tomatoes that are planted in the shade will still grow, but if they do develop fruit, it will be at a much slower rate. They were put in the ground June 9. I'll update the experiment again on June 30-ish.