Vegetable Sunlight Chart – How Much Sun do Vegetables Need?

Many garden vegetables need full sunlight to grow and produce well. However, not all vegetables require full sunlight. This vegetable sunlight chart is a useful resource to tell you whether your vegetables should be grown in low, medium, or full sunlight.

If your vegetable garden doesn’t get 6-8 hours of sunlight daily, don’t despair. There are plenty of shade-tolerant vegetables. Some even prefer a semi-shady spot.

Keep reading to learn sun requirements for vegetables, and download a printable to help you decide the best place to plant your veggies.

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Vegetable sunlight chart

Not all vegetables crave full sun! This free vegetable garden sunlight chart lists popular vegetables showing how many hours of sunlight they need to grow best.

You can click here to print the vegetable sun chart or get it from the project card at the bottom of this post.

How much sun do vegetables need?

Most garden vegetables require at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily for optimal growth. In fact, one of the most common garden mistakes is not giving vegetables enough sunlight.

However, not all vegetables are created equal when it comes to sunlight needs. Some, including leafy greens and most root vegetables, can tolerate less sunlight.

Vegetables that grow in shade

You can still have a thriving vegetable garden even if it only gets 3-4 hours of direct sunlight daily. Leafy greens will grow in these sunlight conditions.

This is particularly true in hotter climates. If you live in a cool location, leafy greens will grow better with closer to 5 hours of sun. 

These are some leafy green vegetables that grow in shade:

• Arugula
• Kale
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Asian greens such as bok choy and tatsoi
• Mustard greens 
• Microgreens
• Scallions – also known as spring onions

Partial shade vegetables

This category includes root vegetables that grow underground. Cool-season crops can also tolerate partial shade.

If your garden gets 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day, grow these vegetables:

• Carrots
• Radishes
• Beets
• Turnips
• Potatoes
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Sweet peas
• Brussels sprouts
• Cauliflower

Full sun vegetables

The majority of garden vegetables need full sun. Fruit-producing vegetables thrive in 6-8 hours (or more) of direct sunlight.

If your vegetable garden gets plenty of light, try growing these full sun veggies:

• Tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Eggplants
• Melons
• Cucumbers
• Beans – both bush beans and pole beans
• Squash and butternut pumpkins
• Watermelons
• Rutabagas
• All varieties of fruit

Tips about this vegetable sunlight chart:

It’s important to remember that while some vegetables are shade-tolerant, there aren’t any shade-loving vegetables.

The more hours of sunlight a plant gets, the larger and more fruitful it will be. 

Some things to consider when choosing a planting location are:

• Colder climates need more sun than gardens in the deep South.
• Fruiting vegetables require more sunlight than leafy greens.
• Large plants need more sun than small plants.

Remember this gardening quote: “If you grow it for the fruit, it needs full sun. If you grow it for the leaves, partial sun is all you need.”

Share this vegetable plant sunlight chart on Twitter

If you enjoyed learning how much sunlight the various vegetables need for optimal growth, why not share this post with a gardening friend? Here is a tweet to get you started.

🌞 How much sunlight do your vegetables really need? From full sun to partial and even shade, we break it down and include a free vegetable garden sunlight chart for you to print out! 🥬🌽🍅 Share on X

Pin this post describing the sunlight needs for vegetables

Would you like a reminder of this post detailing how much sunlight vegetables need? Just pin this image to one of your gardening boards on Pinterest so you can easily find it later.

You can also watch this YouTube video about common vegetable garden mistakes and solutions.

Admin note: This vegetable light requirements chart first appeared on the blog in April 2013. I have updated the post to add new photos and a video for you to enjoy.