Shady Greens

Oct 26, 2023

Tammy shows us three easy edible greens that thrive in pots and part shade.

A cranking vegie patch is a dream for many of us with shady balconies or courtyards. But don’t hang up your vegie growing dreams just yet! The great thing about growing edible crops in pots is that you can move them around to catch whatever sun you have - and take them with you if you're moving house.

Beta vulgaris cv.

Silverbeet is a long-lasting annual that thrives part shade. It shares its botanical name with beetroot, but it has been bred for different characteristics; beetroot for the roots and silverbeet for the leaves. The traditional form has green leaves and white stems, but you can also find colourful cultivars like Rainbow Chard that look beautiful in pots and in your cooking.

Plant silverbeet into a large plastic pot, a polystyrene box or a large wicking pot. Make sure the container is at least 30 cms deep because like beetroot, silverbeet have long roots. Fill the pot with a premium potting mix that contains a slow-release fertiliser, and only plant one seedling as they tend to get quite big. It will take about 8 to 10 weeks until it’s ready to harvest but you can help it along with a liquid fertiliser that's suitable for vegies every two weeks.

Ipomoea batatas cv.

Sweet potato is a rambling plant that produces delicious tubers. Growing tubers requires lots of sunshine, but you can also grow them for their edible leaves. They thrive in part-shade and can even be tried indoors. To sprout the vine stems called ‘slips’, put a sweet potato in a jar or shallow bowl of water and allow slips to sprout. Avoid using store bought ones as they can carry diseases. Another way is to take cuttings from a vine growing in a friend's garden. Cut these into smaller sections with at least one node on each cutting then pot them up. You can buy sweet potato vines from the nursery in many different varieties, but the leaves all taste the same.

Plant sweet potato into a small pot with premium potting mix or a large pot if you want to grow a few. The trailing vines look beautiful spilling over the sides of the pot, or you can train them up a metal trellis by twisting them around the uprights to help them stay in place. A sweet potato vine in a pot in part-shade may produce a little edible tuber but it won’t reach its full potential. That's okay because we're nurturing the leaves. You don’t need to wait to harvest the leaves, you can pick them straight away – just don't pick them all at once. You still want some leaves left to help the plant grow. Fertilise every two weeks to give the plants a good boost.

Begonia cvs.

Begonias are beautiful plants often grown as potted colour but a lot of them are also edible. The best ones to try are the wax begonias, also known as bedding begonias. The leaves are succulent and crispy, and they taste citrusy and slightly sour. Whilst you can eat the flowers, they don't taste like much but are a pretty addition to salads and desserts. Begonias are not overly fussy and won't mind being a bit crowded, so for maximum impact, plant these colourful beauties on mass. Try varieties with fun names like chocolate and gelati. You’ll need premium potting mix with perlite thrown in for extra drainage, and to avoid root rot, make sure you allow the potting mix to dry before watering.

SILVERBEET

Beta vulgaris cv.

SILVERBEET ‘RAINBOW CHARD’

Beta vulgaris cv.

SWEET POTATO

Ipomoea batatas cv.

WAX BEGONIA ‘CHOCOLATE’

Begonia cv.

WAX BEGONIA ‘GELATI’

Begonia cv.

Filmed on Garigal Country | Ingleside, NSW

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