Sunlight Calculator
Seed packets talk about full sun and partial shade, but nobody tells you which one your balcony actually is. Count the hours of direct sun your growing spot receives on a clear midsummer day, tell the calculator which way it faces and what is blocking the light, and it will place you in the right category and list the crops that will genuinely crop there.
Your garden
Results
Light category
Full sun
Enough light for fruiting crops — tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and beans will all crop well.
Aspect
South
The brightest aspect you can have
Will thrive here
Will grow, but crop lightly
Nothing in the list
Needs more light
Nothing in the list
Tips for this spot
- Full sun also means fast drying — check container watering daily in summer.
Figures are typical averages. Your cultivar, soil and microclimate will shift them, so treat the results as a starting point.
How it works
- 1
Set the slider to the hours of unshaded, direct sun the spot gets on a clear day at the height of the season.
- 2
Nearby walls, fences and trees reduce the usable light even during those hours, so the calculator discounts the total by how much is blocking the sky.
- 3
The result is placed in the standard nursery bands: six hours or more is full sun, four to six partial sun, two to four partial shade, and less than two is full shade.
- 4
Every crop in the library is then sorted into what will thrive, what will grow but crop lightly, and what needs clearly more light than you have.
Frequently asked questions
Save this plan to your garden
Create a free Vegarden account and turn this result into sowing reminders, watering schedules and a harvest log you can come back to.
- Free
- Instant results
Related tools
Other free calculators that pair well with this one.
Watering Calculator
Work out how many litres per watering and how often, adjusted for heat, sun and pot material.
Open toolContainer Size Calculator
Find the pot volume, diameter, depth and soil quantity each crop needs.
Open toolPlanting Calendar Calculator
Work out when to sow, transplant and harvest any crop from your frost dates.
Open tool