what is meant by shade

[estación seca]

Well, I can read the newspaper at the beach on a sunny day, or by candlelight at midnight. So that doesn't help me much, either.

I think most peole think shade means there is no shadow cast if something is put between the light source and the target. But maybe I'm wrong, and that's not how I decide on what shade is - I just look.

With long experience (that means killing lots of plants) gardeners come to understand what different light levels are. You can take a shortcut and prevent many deaths by buying a light meter reading in footcandles. They aren't that expensive.

You can also use an automatic camera and a little work. See this link

MEASURING LIGHT INTENSITY *

There are apps for mobile phones but I found the free and free trial ones are hard to use and demand access to all your personal information on the phone. Also, lots of phone camera systems aren't designed for people who care about light levels, so they don't work well for this purpose

But really, you should go buy a light meter.

*(which replaces the original page, referred to elsewhere on OB but no longer existing)