Shade Cloth Questions

11 years ago

Probably going to need a shade cloth for the west side of my 6x8 HFGH. Is 50% OK for Kansas summers? Do I shade the entire west side (8'x8") or just the roof panels on that side? And finally, where did GW members purchase their shade cloth?

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Comments (8)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
11 years ago
50% will give a good amount of cooling. Does it allow enough light for your plants? Mine is 30% and it helps with cooling while allowing enough light for fruit crops. But won't be enough without an evaporative cooling system. That means a wet wall on one side/end and exhaust fans on the opposite end.

I have shade cloth on top and the west side. It will get real hot inside before the sun gets to the west side.

Many places sell shade cloth. I shop for the best price on what I want. The black polypropylene is very tough and lasts a long time, some of mine 30 years of part time use. I got aluminet once and while excellent in effect it unraveled in 4-5 years.
rosiew
11 years ago
fruitnut,

Any idea why the aluminet unraveled/failed on you?

I'm looking for material to cover a largish pergola and that was one product under consideration. I have a post running now about covering mine to keep it dry:

Would also like advice about the best appearance I could get for the pergola, shade cloth type. Hope the opinions keep coming. Will be following this thread.

Rosie

Here is a link that might be useful: Recommendations for non-glass cover
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Re: the interior GH shades link. Tension rods! Now there is an idea. Sew a rod pocket top and bottom, and use rubber tipped, spring loaded (tension) curtain rods to hold the shades in place between the polybars. Those rods cost less than $2.00 at Wal-Mart, especially the skinny ones, which are all that would be needed, with 24 inchs between each polybar. Humm. What if- thinking ahead about 6 months....... Take a length of heavy bubble insulation and some 2" wide edging tape folded over, or wide, prefolded bias tape. Sew it to the top and bottom of lengths of the bubble. Use the tension rods to hold it all against the polycarb. No sticky tape, or silly little clips that won't hold. I'll have to remember that notion, come October.
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The ceiling fans in my 12 x 16 X 12 ft. high GH are 52 inch, with 5 blades each, and as already noted, are outdoor models, and I have yet to see aluminum, or vinyl- rust. However, I would also argue that in a smaller, lower height GH, 2 smaller fans would be superior to a single large one, and I'll explain why. It's a bit of a long tale, but bear with me, because what I learned came from actual experience. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention but in our case, it was more like desperation. Our house is a fairly typical early 1950's ranch, with a shallow hip roof and 8 ft. ceilings. (It's only real attribute is the fact that we burnt the mortgage 25 years ago.) It also has a combination forced air heating & AC system, with baseboard vents, which is about as inneficient a means to cool a structure as you can get, and until we replaced the old H/AC with a high effeciency system 2 years ago, cooling this place in our often blistering summers was often a decision between keeping cool, or gassing up the tractors. The first ceiling fan was a small $19.99 cheapie installed over the stairwell to the basement, intended to pull some of the air in that lovely sink of cool- up. It helped enough to encourage us to install a fan in our bedroom, which is long and narrow, with no cross ventillation, as the windows are all on the one exterior wall. However, because of the length of the room, we ended up installing 2 of them, both 52", and due to the ceiling height, mounted close to the ceiling, which reduces their effectiveness. Our bed is directly under one of them, and the first time we ran them in winter with the blades set to blow down, the breeze was just too much, so we reversed just that one, and to our delight, discovered total air circulation. The fans move the air continually, end to end, floor to ceiling and other than for cleaning, have not been turned off since. Once the porch ceiling fan had convinced me that I wanted one in my GH, the experience in our bedroom and pure logic dictated that the same would apply in my GH; so 2 fans there also. All it took to prove it, was a handfull of down. The fans are currently set to pull up, to draw air up and out of the roof vents. This winter, they will be set to run each in a different direction, to the same affect as in the bedroom. In a closed space, multiple speed ceiling fans will move air gently, or with force, depending on the set speed, and that's another feature missing in HAF's. I do not believe that ourdoor air moves in an even, horizontal direction, as our planet really is round, but will leave any further explanations to our resident expert on things scientific- Nathan.
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After trying 30%, 47% and 63% on my shade houses, my best results have been with the 47%. The 30 is not enough to get markedly lower temps, and the 63 cuts the light to much, slowing growth of most of my plants. For my greenhouse, I have 3 panels that each fit the north/south walls, and they are 30,47,63%. I move the shade panels around, south side and north side, depending on the season. Right now the 63 is on the south and the 47 on the north (outside temp. today = 108 F.)
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In the interest of simplicity, I think I would go with 70% for about 3 weeks on the top and sun sides; and then take off the top for about 2-3 weeks; then remove it all. Keep in mind that full sun in a window inside is about equal to full shade outside. When you start to get new/tender growth, if the sun is quite hot, I would put back the top for maybe a week to avoid sunburn.
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lisa_z5wmi
11 years ago
I put some old 60% white on half the inside roof of my gh (it is probably less than 60% now) and 50% aluminet on the outside. The 60% has been on all winter here in Michigan- I grow orchids and when the sun comes out,it really comes out. I just put up the 50% two days ago but will probably take it down as the weather turned again. In summer I don't need to shade the sides but I do in winter. I find the aluminet is more comfortable to sit under due to its heat reflectivity than the regular shade cloth- but not by a huge margin. I have only had the stuff one year: the 60% white I got from a friend and the aluminet I ordered from greenhousemegastore.com. There are other places that have it, but last spring they had the best prices and I could get other stuff I needed in the same order.
rosiew
11 years ago
Lisa, this is a bit off topic, but I've smiled repeatedly since reading of you enjoying your orchids during a Michigan winter.

Can someone speak to the appearance of aluminet? I'm seeking shade protection for a pergola, and hoping for attractive and functional. Heavy shade is my aim for summers in Georgia.
mudhouse_gw
11 years ago
I've been using Aluminet in many ways on my greenhouse, coming up on six years, with no failures or problems. I hope I don't have the problems fruitnut mentioned (so far so good.) I first purchased 40% for the roof, but that was not nearly enough protection for my plants during the intense summer months. I later changed it to 60% for the roof, and used the 40% aluminet elsewhere.

It's very versatile, and easy to work with because it's so lightweight.

I made a cover for my roof, by folding over the raw edges, hand-sewing with a big needle and strong nylon thread, and adding grommets. Then I used it to make screen panels for the south wall of my greenhouse, by stretching it inside the Home Depot metal frames for making your own window screens. I've also made a simple curtain out of it (hand-whipping the edges, again) that slides on shower curtain hooks on a rod over my greenhouse doors (lets the breeze through, but keeps the sun and birds out.) I've wrapped it around a wooden frame for my greenhouse gable, and stapled it in place with a staple gun. Really easy to work with.

Rosiew, the appearance is very silvery and shiny/sparkly. It has a fairly loose weave and stretches quite a bit in one direction. It doesn't look organic at all, though, and at first I was a little disappointed with the shiny metallic look. I used to joke that it made my greenhouse look like the Starship Enterprise. The stuff works so well for me, though, I've stopped worrying about that.

If you'd like me to send a small piece in an envelope, so you can see the material for yourself, send me an email through Gardenweb. I have lots of little scraps.
rosiew
11 years ago
mudhouse,

I've sent you an email. You are such a doll making the offer.

This stuff must be really thin. I'm intrigued. And Lordy knows I have time to experiment since I still don't have a bid from the contractor for building the pergola. Grrrr.

Will be back with updates, all.

Rosie
lisa_z5wmi
11 years ago
My husband likes the look of the aluminet better than the custom made shade we had on the patio. We have a 20' x 8' patio off the back door which faces south- the wind finally did in the old cover and I bought extra aluminet to use there. I attach it to the metal frame with shark clips and zip ties. I think it looks a bit rink-dink, but Hubby likes it. It does fool the eye a bit as you can kinda see through it so you don't feel so closed in. One piece I used my sewing machine to put on strap material. I found that it curled so I didn't do the other pieces. I think it would be wise to have something on the edges as in a stiff wind (we get over 40 mph regularly here) just the shark clips will most likely tear the material.
rosiew
11 years ago
lisa,

I googled "stitching aluminet" and found lots of info. Thought I'd share. Mudhouse, aka Sheri, found some of your posts here.

All this info will be a huge help to me. Hope it helps others too.

Rosie
p.s. search was in google via firefox.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tons of info about ALUMINET

Shade Cloth Questions

Comments (8)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

rosiew

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