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Post by spike on Sept 15, 2017 9:17:41 GMT -5
Where is my question of the day?
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Post by daylilydude on Sept 15, 2017 9:29:08 GMT -5
When planting your in-ground vegetable garden, do you plant in a North/South or an East/West direction?
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Post by ladymarmalade on Sept 15, 2017 9:45:46 GMT -5
Yes.
I've done both directions at my community garden plot and it doesn't seem to make a difference. But, I don't grow tall crops like corn, so I don't have to worry about shadows.
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Post by september on Sept 15, 2017 11:16:54 GMT -5
Both.
I grow in raised beds, all my front garden beds are 4'x12' and run north,south. My back garden is on uneven ground, slightly uphill, so I fit shorter 4'x8' beds in like puzzle pieces slightly terraced going east/west, and have a few 4'x12's going north/south on the flatter ground. I don't think there is any difference most of the summer when the sun is high in the sky. I suppose if I had tall peas, pole beans, or corn going east/west I would plant them at the north end of the garden. But my tomatoes get pretty tall, and with 3 ft aisles between the beds, they don't ever shade each other.
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Post by paulf on Sept 15, 2017 11:29:15 GMT -5
Both. Tomatoes and peppers on a grid pattern and where there is space everything else gets fitted in one direction or the other.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 15, 2017 13:51:08 GMT -5
Pretty much what September said. Trellises and tall plants I locate either on the North or East side of the section, depending on which way that section of the garden is oriented.
But in my garden, it's pretty clear that having the trellises and tall plants along the North edge of each section allows more hours of sunlight to reach the shorter plants than having the trellises and tall plants on the East. If the trellis is on the North side, the plants get all day sun. If the trellis is on the East, the short plants get only afternoon sun. Things are spaced pretty tight in my garden, though. With more spacing it probably wouldn't matter.
As it is, I try to plant more shade-tolerant plants (like greens) in the sections of the garden where the trellises are on the East. If I were in a hot desert climate where more summertime shade would be helpful, I'd put the trellises on the West, so the short plants would get only morning sun.
To visualize it better:
Option A: Afternoon Sun to Short Plants
___________North ^
___________* T ___________S R ___________H E < West_ _ __O L_____East > ___________R L ___________T I ___________* S
___________South v
Option B: All Day Sun to Short Plants
_____________North ^
_________T R E L L I S < West___* S H O R T *____East >
____________South v
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