At latitude 33 something south, i use two layers of 50% shadecloth on my shadehouse in the warmer months. One layer of shadecloth in winter.

One layer of 50% shadecloth as hail guard on Glass-house. Extra shading at western end and clean grime off glass a little bit late autumn.

You will have to fiddle around a bit to get the shading right for the Genera you wish to grow.

Shade cloth alone will not do the full job in a glasshouse, you need a fan to circulate the air inside.

I didn't think of using more than one layer, that sounds like a plan. Thank you!

I was afraid after I'd posted my question that it would sound as though I expected shade cloth alone to take care of the temperature control, but I do know that it is not possible. I've already bought a fan and plan on a mister/fogger of some sort and vent panels and possibly an evaporative cooler if need be.

I highly recommend the aluminet because it reflects the light instead of trapping the heat.

I'm in KY and use two shade cloths, one 50% and one 30% with no cloth shading from approximately mid-November through mid-March. In Texas you possibly would need one year round.

Keep the evaporative cooler on your list - you will need it.

Brooke

Not trapping heat is definitely what I would want in summer, but in winter I might prefer something that keeps heat in more when I'd want it warmer.

Shade cloth provides shade, Aluminet provides shade AND heat reflection. In your situation I would go 100% Aluminet. I found it very easy to work with and would highly recommend it, I will probably never go back to shade cloth again. The cheapest place I found is:

http://www.shadeclothstore.com/deptsaluminetshadecloth.html I ordered it without grommets and bought grommets from:

http://www.shadeclothstore.com/products/clipitsplasticgrommets__aluminetshadecloth.html These grommets worked fine and are dirt cheap.

One of the better foggers is the minifogger by Hydrofogger:

http://www.hydrofogger.com/inc/sdetail/152

You are probably going to need a swamp cooler. I experimented with mine in different positions and found that it worked best for me if it was sitting on the ground (1" off cement) and blew the cool, moist air under the benches. 2 fans create a circular air movement under the benches, there is an additional fan at bench level. Air moves up through the plants and leaves the greenhouse through a generous 2' x 1' opening at the highest place of the green house. With these measure I keep the temp below 80 even on the hottest days in Southern California. This describes the situation in the 'Cold Greenhouse'.

My solution for temperature control for the 'Hot Greenhouse' is to make it into a lath house during the summer month. I don't need a greenhouse in the summer, only in the winter, so I constructed a convertible structure which will be a heated green house in the winter and an open lath house in the summer. The top 2' of 3 of the walls are hinged and can open up. 12' x 14' of space has 36' of 2' panels open during the hot months. That, along with fans keep the temperature at the ambient backyard level. As it gets colder in the fall I will begin to close these panels and eventually the heating system will kick in.

I would like to tell you that with these open walls, no swamp cooler is necessary but cannot say so as I have another factor in play. The 'Hot' and the 'Cold' greenhouses share a dividing wall and the air from the cool side is exhausted into the hot side thus adding cooling and humidity to that side. I believe that with the open walls I probably would not have neede a swamper but am not 100% sure.

Good luck, you'll have a lot of fun.

Nick

Nick,

Thank you for providing the links for purchasing aluminet. I was very favorably impressed with aluminet while visiting an orchid friend's greenhouse complex last week. I know that you are *frugal*. I trust that you already researched the best prices for me :) [I prefer to use the word 'cheep' when I refer directly to myself]

I can't think of a better way to get 2011 off to a great start than to purchase aluminet shading cloth in 2010 as a replacement for "tired" shading cloth. To have the fixtures in place for next Spring, 2011? WoW! What will I do with the extra time? :)

I was *told* last night by " The Warden " that I need to purchase some landscape fabric as well. Time to get off my a**!

--Stitz--

I really appreciate all the suggestions, and thank you Nick for the links!
Most of my plants are warm/hot growers and many have been outside in my yard all summer, smaller seedlings and a few species Phals are inside in a light cart in the kitchen but I need to get them all out into their own habitat.
I'm planning to hold off moving them all til the temperatures have dropped a little for the season, also give me a chance to watch the thermometer inside the GH (when its up) and know into what conditions they'll be moving.
Thank you all!!