What vegetables are shade-loving? These varieties can be grown even with insufficient light

Vegetables are divided into two categories: shade-loving and sun-loving. Most vegetables like to grow in positions with plenty of sunlight, but some green vegetables are shade-tolerant varieties. Below, the editor brings you five common shade-loving vegetables.

1. Lettuce

This species originates from the Mediterranean coast and is cultivated throughout China. It is a cold-tolerant vegetable that likes cool climates and cannot tolerate high temperatures. It likes moisture. It also has a relatively large fertilizer requirement, and is best grown in clay loam or loam rich in organic matter that retains water and fertilizer. Its propagation method is sowing.

2. Garlic chives

It belongs to the Liliaceae family and is a perennial root vegetable. It has strong adaptability and prefers cool conditions, and is cultivated everywhere in China. It tolerates medium light intensity and has strong shade tolerance.

3. Asparagus

Asparagus has very strong adaptability to temperature; it tolerates both shade and heat, and can be cultivated from the subarctic zone to the subtropics. In high-cold regions, where the temperature is -33°C and the frozen soil layer reaches a thickness of 1 m, it can still overwinter safely; although the yield is low, the quality is relatively good. The initial germination temperature for asparagus seeds is 5°C, and the optimum temperature is 25-30°C; above 30°C, the germination rate and germination vigor decline noticeably. When propagated by seed, it can continue growing for more than 10 years. In cold winter regions, the aboveground part withers, and the rhizome and fleshy roots enter a dormant period to overwinter; in warm winter regions, the dormant period is not obvious.

4. Malabar spinach

Malabar spinach is eaten as seedlings, tender shoots or tender leaves. Its texture is tender, soft and smooth, and its nutritional value is high. It can be used in soups, stir-fried, blanched, or served cold; its flavor is delicate, and when chewed it is as crisp and refreshing as eating wood ear fungus. It tolerates high temperatures, drought, moisture and shade, and has high nutritional value; the varieties have thick stems, thick leaves, and tender leaves that are soft, smooth and fleshy. Such as large-leaf Malabar spinach.

5. Broccoli

Broccoli is basically similar to cauliflower in morphology and growth habits, but it grows vigorously and has relatively strong heat tolerance and cold resistance. The plant is tall; after growing more than 20 leaves, it sends up a flower stalk, and at the top grows tightly clustered flower buds forming a head-like cluster. The flower buds are blue-green, hence it is also called green cauliflower. The leaf color is blue-green, gradually turning dark blue-green, with increasing waxy bloom. The leaf stalks are narrow and long. There are two leaf shapes: broad-leaf and long-leaf.

Shade-loving vegetables do not mean they do not need light; their shade tolerance is merely relatively stronger, and a small amount of photosynthesis can improve the quality of the vegetables.