Green house shade covering

[GoOnThen]

I have eventually got my little green house home and have sorted a spot to put it were it will get afternoon shade.

It is a steel framed 2 m x 2.4m pitched roof structure that will be covered in double layer plastic that will be a all year round home for my rapidly expanding collection of slow growers and seedlings.

With the clip system that I am using for the covering I can take the shade cloth on and off with out to much hassle but I do have some concerns about not having some shade in winter as it is my understanding that a sunny day could still burn some plants and seedlings

The question I have is what percentage shade cloth are you all using on your green houses and do you leave it on all year round

Cheers

Got

[Nemisty]

Here in NZ my cactus seedlings and saliva plants still get completely cooked in their greenhouse despite it being mid winter but they do receive all day sun in the spot the greenhouse is sitting in.

I fold a frost cloth over so its two layers thick and throw that over and just peg it to the green house, does the trick perfectly and its easy to whip off.

The cloth also helps insulate retain a bit more heat after the sun goes down aswel.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Nemesis

[myco]

I was told by someone to make your hothouse so you can add shade cloth during the summer and take it off during winter

It seems to be working well my hothouse is made of a wooden structure I built it has a plastic roof to keep the rain out

And I have simply cut shade cloth to the right size to cover the roof on the inside and added the small metal rings to certain points of the shade clothe and put hooks up in the wooden frame of the hothouse so in summer time I can just pull out my rolls of shade cloth and hook it up covering the roof and shading it

Then when it's winter I just unhook it roll it up and put it away for the winter

[IndianDreaming]

Any chance of a coupla pics? What you're describing is exactly what I need but haven't got around to building yet. I've got 2 - 1.2 x 2.4 x .5 high boxes, and have one of those cheapo Marquee frames that fits over it perfectly (3x3 with 60cm walking room at one end and inbetween). I was thinking of double lining with plastic - possibly shade cloth in the summer. Some pics would be awesome, what sort of clips have you used? The good thing about these marquee frames is the black bulldog clips fit exactly on the frame, so I was thinking of using those...

[Stillman]

50 to 70 % the Oz sun is Evil. I grow alot of my stuff permanently under shade cloth to me alot of species they get a better colour the blues come out.

[Snowfella]

Guess it also might depend some on what kinda sun they are getting. I've got same species plants growing in 2 outdoors beds here, one that gets full morning sun but no afternoon sun and one that gets no morning sun but full afternoon sun. The first bed has just about everything thriving and growing like mad, even had to take an Aloe vera out as it was getting to large, while in the second bed most plants seem to be fighting an ongoing battle with the sun.

Not sure what I'll do with the Aloe now though as it's not happy in it's pot and the wife has it earmarked for the great compost heap in the sky.

[zelly]

Also of significant importance is shade cloth coloring, black being the best.

Also research percentages of blocking as there are differences..

[GoOnThen]

Thanks for the replies

I will post some pics maybe this weekend. The clip system is what is used on a lot of commercial green houses.

The aluminium channel is screwed to the frame and the plastic is stretched over and the spring clip it pushed in to place. You can then go over the top again with the shade cloth and secure it with another clip so you can remove the shade cloth without disturbing the plastic.

I was thinking of using the 50- 70% but was unsure if it would be to much shade during the winter. Its good to know this is what you are using Stillman

I would like to use the reflective cloth as it is light weight and keeps the green house cooler but I also have to keep my wife happy so the colour choice is going to be dictated by what will look the best.

The other reason I want to make a decision now whether the shade cloth can stay on all year round is I can install auto opening roof vents if it is permanently fitted. If the shade cloth is to be removed for winter then the shade cloth has to be fitted on another frame so that it clears the vents when they open or I have to fit the vents in the sides which are not as efficient.

The other way is to fit the shade cloth on the inside but that doesn't work as well as the structure heats up a lot more due to the heat passing straight through the plastic as it is not shaded from the outside.

Cheers

Got

[Heretic]

Sarlon " Solar Grow ' is a tough , U.V resistant , rain - proof , plastic green house roofing material that comes on a roll . Cacti thrive under it , but one has to water the plants constantly , because rain does'nt penetrate . Nevertheless , it is perfect for all horticulture .