OK, this may not be easy to answer. The property is a 2 story condo with a very small (12 X 10) back porch to grow container plants on. It's actually my mother's house.

If growing full-sun plants in containers, which scenario would likely yield a better overall total amount of light:

1. On the back porch, near the middle. Porch is fenced on three sides and the house blocks the NE side. Varying somewhat by time of year, the sun will provide about 4.5 hrs of direct sun & bright, overhead indirect light from the sky the rest of the day.

2. On a second floor balcony with a roof. This location is higher than the fence, so it gets about 6-7 hrs of direct sun, however, since the roof actually goes across the top of the balcony, there is no overhead indirect light or any light from behind, almost like being indoors in a sunny window, since the brightness of the sky itself is blocked on all sides.

For scenario #1 - you get brighter indirect light when the sun isn't overhead, but you get more hours of direct sun for scenario #2, but the indirect light is only going to be from the same direction (southwest) with almost no light to speak of from the north or overhead directions - I would be concerned about either overall light being too low, or "stretching" towards the sun in this situation.

What do you think?