For gardening needs why is “shade” different from “sun” when the items in shade are also visible/lit? For plants that require “sun” would it be better if they are in direct sunlight without warmth versus in shade with warmth? What does direct sunlight provide that shade cannot during the day?
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Short answer: Plants turn light energy into chemical energy—>sunshine into food. That’s what photosynthesis is. Someone smarter than me will undoubtedly be here soon with a more advanced explanation.
I would never say “better” because certain plants prefer shade to direct sunlight and also vice versa.
But basically, more sun means more light to produce energy with at the cost of needing to spend more resources to block UV radiation (plants also don’t want to get a sunburn) and water loss.
So it depends on where the plant evolved for what they prefer. Plants that evolved in the desert might prefer drier and sunny conditions so when you transplant them out of their native environment to your backyard, you need to imitate their native environment.
The amount of energy the plant gets from direct sunlight is much higher than shade.
As an analogy, imagine you’re on a beach. In direct sunlight, the solar energy will burn your skin in a short time. If you’re in the shade of an umbrella, it takes much longer to burn
Some plants naturally need stronger light to handle their energy needs. However, natural sunlight also is harsh and generates a lot of heat. Plants can overheat or be sunburned just like we can. Shade-loving plants are less adapted to handle the harshness and heat of direct sunlight, but are adapted to make the most of their reduced light, while sun-loving plants have fortified themselves against this and live in an abundance of available energy from light, but as a result, if they are put in shade they generally will either starve to death, or will have to cut costs, such as their blooms and fruits. Here and there you can find plants that can adapt to either. Snake Plants and ZZ Plants, common houseplants, can adapt to deep shade or full sun with enough time to acclimate. and some particularly aggressive creeping plants like Mints can acclimate to a variety of conditions as well.
This also highlights how useful grow lights can be. most modern growlights produce little to no damaging radiation like UV, and produce very little heat, so a sun and shade plant can share a space on a grow rack indoors, and for shade plants especially, this can allow growers to produce a faster growing and more robust plant than would be easily possible outdoors.
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