Shade Cloth and the HFGH

16 years ago

IF I put up shade cloth (which I have not bought yet) how will I be able to use the roof vents properly?

It is already getting over 100 degrees inside, (one day it hit 119)

I have the vents opened all day and a fan as well going all day.

any suggestions...

FYI, I dont necessarily intend to grow stuff long term inside during the summer, but I have seeds starting still and will probably need to use the GH for a few more months until stuff gets big enough to go into the ground.

That is going to be HOT HOT HOT inside.

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Comments (8)

ole_dawg
16 years ago
I too have been looking at shade cloth, the aluminum kind.
I am wondering if I can use it alone over my GH frame and what the results would be.

GHerser, Since there two HFGH's near me, one owned my my landlord and the other by his son, I have looked at them. I think it would be quite simple to make a U type arrangement of PVC pipe to place at the open end of your vents. Something to hold the shade cloth "OFF" the open vents. From what I have read, Aluminet streches (SP), but only one way. You would want to orient the s???? the right way.
In hot sunny places I don't think anything can our preform Aluminet.

Let's hear it from you guys and girls that use it.

1eyedJack and the Dawg
troykd
16 years ago
I don't use my roof vents as I have installed an exhaust fan and intake. However, shade cloth is durable but you can easily trim it. I'd just cut a flap for the roof vents. I don't know if the aluminized shade cloth can be easily cut though.
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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.
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If you put it on the inside, it should last a lot longer and remain much cleaner because it won't be subjected to wind, rain, bird crap, and leaf deposits. If it's on the outside, it will look like your GH has a tarp hanging on it...if appearance is a concern for you or your neighbors. I have mine draped on the inside and prefer that. Here's a picture of my nearly finished GH showing the arrangement of the shade cloth.
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Update on January 1 (Happy New Year folks!) in response to a question by Baileybear in another thread... I wanted to add a photo of how we added a drape of Aluminet shade cloth to the interior roof. I think the Aluminet is probably more effective on the outside of the greenhouse, but I knew the wind would be a constant battle here, so we're trying it inside first. First we attached a 10' steel tube to the inside of the roof peak. (We had a piece of stainless tubing sitting around, but EMT would work fine.) My husband formed three hook shapes by doubling a length of plumbers strap (that flat metal strapping with holes) and bending it into a hook shape. Then he removed the nut from one of the bolts at the peak, slipped the hook in place, and replaced the nut. You can see the hook in the center of this photo, holding the bare rod. I laid the Aluminet cloth out flat in the yard, then folded it in half, and slid the rod into the fold. I secured the Aluminet to the central rod with wire twisty ties about every foot. (Classy, huh.) Then we carried the whole thing into the GH and hung it on the three roof hooks. (You have to make little holes in the Aluminet to poke the hooks through.) After securing the sides, it looks like this: On each side, we wrapped the Aluminet around another 10' piece of EMT tubing. If I decide to keep this set up, I'll put a hem in the shadecloth to slip the tubes in. Since this was a "temporary" experiment, we just rolled the edge of the Aluminet around the rod until it was taut, and secured it with more twisty ties and baling wire. The rod was then anchored to the top of the greenhouse wall with baling wire, looped around the bolts on our three central EMT ceiling braces, because they were handy. (The EMT ceiling braces are the three horizontals you see in the lower part of the above photo.) I just cut a small slit in the Aluminet so I could stick my hand through to operate the roof vents. The Aluminet does not unravel when you do this (it's cool stuff.) So far I like it. If I want less shade, I can unfasten the rod on the south side and slide it all the way across the greenhouse to the north side, riding along the tops of our three central EMT braces. That way the south side of the roof is fully exposed to sun, and the north side of the roof has two thicknesses of shadecloth in place. Although, I haven't done it very often...I'm learning that sunny days even in December can heat up the GH so fast that I just leave the roof shadecloth in place...but that may be a quirk of our desert climate, and I'm still experimenting. One more update...because of the cold nights, I have all of my poly panels back in place on the south side. But, I figured out I can put the screens back in place OVER the poly panels by holding them in with clips installed backwards. Looks silly, but it provides just enough snugness to keep my screens in place. I've also made a triangular piece of Aluminet to go over the inside west gable, over my doors. I just cut it to size, hemmed it by hand, and it's attached with velcro to the aluminum frame. Our west sun is brutal even in late afternoon, especially in summer. I can take a photo if it would help anyone. If any of this is unclear, let me know. That's where I am so far in my learning curve! Sheri
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mudhouse_gw
16 years ago
I don't use my roof vents anymore either, but I agree with troykd, I've seen posts mentioning just cutting flaps (in regular shadecloth) for the vents, so the vents can raise up normally.

As Jack says, Aluminet does stretch in one direction, and you can even request which way you want the stretchiness to go when you order it (thanks to birdwidow for this tip.) I believe birdwidow has it installed on the outside of her roof, and the stretchiness of the material allows the roof vents to raise up under her Aluminet without tearing it. (I think she added padding to the vent corners, to be sure it didn't snag the Aluminet, if my memory is right.) Aluminet is very tough and forgiving stuff in my opinion! Also, you can cut it, and the cool thing is, it doesn't even unravel where you cut it.

I tried to go the lazy way and I currently have mine installed hanging just inside my roof (I didn't want to battle our winds) but I think our heat will force me to figure out how to install it on the outside later this summer. Everyone says it works most efficiently that way, if you're trying to reduce heat gain.

You can order Aluminet hemmed with grommets, or you can order it raw. I'm usually looking for the cheap route, so I ordered mine raw. I've found it easy to roll over the edges and sew by hand with a big needle and nylon thread, but my hand sewn edges have not been subjected to our 50 mph wind gusts yet...so we will have to see! :-)
ole_dawg
16 years ago
Mud,
I would think that you have it anchored close and tight to your GH wherre the wind could not get under it you would have no problem?

1eyedJack and the Dawg
mudhouse_gw
16 years ago
Yes, I think that's the key, Jack. Some of our big gusts come from the West, where the open edge of the shadecloth will be, so we'll just need to give some good thought to securing that leading edge in a snug way...close and tight, as you said.

Gardenerwantabe secured his solar pool cover on the outside in a VERY secure manner, and I might take a page from his book!
ole_dawg
16 years ago
Also you might want to consider rolling the edge. When I so finally buy the Aluminet I plan to attach the long edges to either wood rounds or jointed PVC so that it will enable me to spread the stress over a longer length rather on just a few grommets.

1eyedJack and the Dawg
mudhouse_gw
16 years ago
I just hunted up a thread I remembered that had a nice way to apply shadecloth, but unfortunately the photos have been removed. Rats! Anyway, this person sewed a sleeve in the bottom of the shadecloth, and inserted a piece of electrical conduit, with glued on caps. He filled it with water for extra weight. (Seems like I've also heard of folks using PVC in the same way, and filling it with sand for weight.) Something to consider, anyway.
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Nell Jean
16 years ago
119 degrees? In April! What will June be like when outside temps are over 100? Tiny seedlings can't stand that.

My experience has been that once the Georgia sun gets hot, there is no cooling a small greenhouse in full sun without tremendous expense.
I'm moving everything outside and direct seeding where future plants are to grow.
Nell

Shade Cloth and the HFGH

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