Try some pole beans on a trellis on the side of our condo that gets afternoon sun. I'd do some cucumbers on a trellis too. I've got some pole beans growing pretty well in a side alley that only gets mid-day and mid-afternoon sun. (See the link below for a picture.)

Also I think I'd give up on the cool weather crops (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, peas, etc.) because it's always warm in your climate. Why not take advantage of your tropical climate and grow tropical fruits? :)

Here is a link that might be useful: pole beans in side alley

If you have good enough drainage in your rainy climate, I would think root veggies like beets, gatlic, potatoes and carrots would be okay with the afternoon side. Sweet potatoes should be good too. I don't know anything about taro or cassava, but they are possibilities.

On the morning side, bamboo shoots could grow, but only if you want to put up with bamboo. Chinese cabbage maybe?

I didn't explain my situation well enough. I'm in a 20th floor studio condominium. No side side alley. My balcony is about 2ft by 8 ft. with the air conditioner obstructing the sunnier side. :-( Everything is in containers. I'm not sure the root crops or bamboo would work so well in containers, but I'll be pleased to be told otherwise.

I've been bringing my peas just inside the balcony door where it isn't quite so hot but there's still some sun. We'll see how they go.

I can't think of any local fruits that aren't from big trees - mango, papaya, avocado. It takes 2 years from planting the top of a pineapple to get any fruit, so it's not worth the effort. I'd much rather buy it.

I'll post this question on the Hawaii forum as well, but from what I've seen, they're talking about plants other than veggies and all seem to have land of some sort.

Anyway, thanks for the answers Steve and dicot. The more I think about it, the better carrots sound.

Aloha Susan,

As you can probably tell by my name, I'm from Hawaii, now living in Kansas. Why not grow some Manoa lettuce? You'll have to give it some partial shade so I'd get a potted palm and grow the lettuce beneath it in another pot. Nice filtered shade is provided by the palm. Also, yard long beans would work. Lots of local gardeners grow yard long beans. They are excellent producers, but the vine is quite aggressive. I've never grown yard longs in a pot, but I'm guessing a few seeds would work. You'll have to give it a trellis. They love heat.

Also, check with local nurseries for a tomato that grows locally. I'm afraid peas are out of the question. You need cool weather for them. If you were living in Kula on Maui, you could grow peas, but otherwise you're wasting your time. Sugar snap peas grow on the Big Island in the cooler areas too.

Your best plan is to go to a local nursery and see what is offered there in the way of locally developed veggies. Some of the Chinese cabbages might work too. Hope this helps, einei, but you gotta forget about peas. Too hot, eh?

Generally speaking, veggies need a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun to do well. Here's a pic of a row of corn in my garden showing the impact, with the only difference being it gets progressively more sun from left to right. For you small area, you'd get the most bang for your buck to try a pepper or patio tomato and see what happens. You really don't have enough room for beans or vining plants
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Thanks all. Impressive photo. Very instructive. I dreamed that I had moved to a different apt. last night and the first thing I did in the dream was check the balcony - it was really big and I was thrilled. I woke up in the same place, though. Sigh.

I'm growing the UH cultivar anuenue and I'll try Manoa. I so love fresh peas :-( I guess being on the 20th floor doesn't make me high enough for it to be cooler. ;-)

Another thought for containers is ginger and galangal. Fresh ginger root is fantastic, but means you have to uproot the flowers to get it. And there's nothing better than fresh galangal for certain Thai dishes. It's a nice patio plant as well, but with the same drawback as the ginger.

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I think there are some herbs that would do well. Basil loves heat and does OK with a few hours of sun each day. It's a big crop in Hawaii  if you can, get a seed variety that's resistant to fusarium wilt. Try chives, parsley, and rosemary too.

Try the herbs forum, which has growers from tropical as well as temperate climates. You might start by doing a search there, since this topic comes up fairly often.

dicot,

Nice looking plant. Is that ginger or galangal? I like the flowers. Do they have the same wonderful fragrance as white or yellow ginger? I'm guessing that the regular ginger root or galangal from my Asian store will grow. How deep?