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Greenhouses & Garden Structures

Roll up shade cloth?

16 years ago

Does anyone know where I can buy a shadecloth that is mounted on a roller?

I would like to be able to permanently mount it and avoid the need to climb ladders to hang the shade cloth every spring, then to take it down in the fall and/or every time we get cool, wet sunless days during the growing season.

As the space directly beneath the roof vents will not be used for growing, the shadecloth could be mounted just below the vents on the long, curved SW roof/wall of my 12 X 16 GH, so a 16 ft. width would be ideal, although I could probably live with a bit less. But I haven't a clue as to where to even look for such an item.

The shade cloths available from GH suppliers all seem to be just the cloths and even with custom cuts and edging and grommets; no rollers.

Help?

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Comments (3)

nathanhurst
16 years ago
I put mine on some 40mm PVC waste pipe by sewing a loop at the bottom. The ends are then sewn up so the pipe can't fall out. You might fill the pipe with sand and put on some end caps if you are worried about wind. Then run string down the underside and up the overside with pulleys on the overside at the top. Then pulling the string causes the shadecloth to roll up. Simple eh?

If wind is even more of a problem, run another string inside the cylinder so that there is a constant force applied. Here is a diagram:
shade rollers
wetfeet101b
16 years ago
I saw some "roll-up" shades last time I was at Lowe's home store. I'm pretty sure Home Depot or other stores will have similar items.

I'm not sure if the fabric they use for the shade cloth itself is "garden worthy", but what you could do is contact the manufacturer to see if they can sell you just the roll-up mechanism and then you can install any shade cloth of your choice.

Here's a sample of what I saw at Lowe's:

Here is a link that might be useful: Roll-up Shade
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If you can get 1/2 inch PVC tubing in 20 foot lengths, you can make a hoop over a 4 foot wide bed that's roughly eight feet high in the center. Shove four rods of rebar thin enough to go inside the tubing and long enough to get a firm hammering into the ground with a foot or so sticking up. A couple of bent nails or electrical conduit 2-hole clamps can help with steadiness by "attaching" the rebar to raised bed sides if necessary. Slide the tubing down over the rebar. Don't worry about roots. You can put up hoops in parallel like a Conestoga wagon or cross them in an X. You can also put up plastic tubing "poles", which means straight sections that don't hoop back down; they will be more flexible. How's your wind, and are you comfortable putting large sails into the wind? I was given a hot tip for edged and grommeted shade cloth: Harbor Freight. They also have scads of cheap clamps or you could use those huge binder clips! Also remember, you don't have to shade all the plants if some are in the shade of others. Here is a link that might be useful: Harbor Freight
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I thought I responded a couple days ago -I guess it's gone to cyber space. Hurricane CHarley knocked down 5 huge trees on my property, there was no damage to our house or the houses next door so I considered that a warning and now have no tall trees at all. We are 11 ft above sea level and a block from a tidal canal so I am somewhat concerned about flooding although we've never had any flooding the 29 years we've been in this house. If we have a hurricane warning I can drop the shade and put the orchids on the pea gravel that's there and maybe just cover them with the shade fabric. If we have flooding,I'll have bigger concerns than my orchids. I'm going to contact the sprinkler guy and find out how realistic it would be to run a pipe to the area and put in a sprinkler head. We are allowed to use sprinkler water twice a week for four hours so it would be a nice back up water plan.
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Let me bump this old thread to say that I tried to make some diy shade paint by using a diluted interior latex paint, mixed at about 5:1. I applied it with a pump sprayer six months ago to my double layer of 6-mil poly. The problem is that now the paint doesn't want to come off. I had thought that a pressure washer would easily take it off, at the risk of being too strong. But I was completely wrong. Not only does the power washer not remove any paint, the poly itself is oblivious to it. I use the same machine to strip wooden decks and siding. I even tried to cut through the poly with it, and it doesn't even make a mark. It seems like it relates to the poly not being a firm surface; the movement takes away the leverage of the pressured water spray. Undiluted Simple Green and a *lot* of work with a typical plastic kitchen scrub brush eventually took off the paint. If the brush has scratched the poly, I can't see it. It took me four hours of scrubbing to clean just one end wall of a 14' wide high tunnel. If I ever try shade paint again, I will spend the money for the Kool Ray AND paint a small test area only, let it sit for a year, and see how easy it is to remove.
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Hi Sunny... ahha, the challenges of Colorado gardening. If it isn't snowing it's hot and windy. But don't we just love it? I have raised beds that I cover in early spring with row cover material that I get at a local nursery or through GardensAlive.com. When hot weather arrives I raise them with stakes and use them for shade. Great for lettuce and tender veggies. Of course, you still have to deal with the wind knocking everything down. This year I am also using small beach umbrellas in various places (the kind that have a pointed end to place in sand. They are cheap at discount or drug stores and you can easily take them up and down as needed. And they add a colorful touch to the gardens. Just watch the wind... although mine are holding up amazingly well. Hope this helps. Good luck.
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birdwidow
Original Author
16 years ago
I saw some white vinyl, fake "bamboo" roll ups at Home Depot a few days ago, and may try them. They were cheap enough and I recall the days when all GH's were glass and were whitewashed every spring, which seemed to cut the heat quite a bit.

They had the shade in 8 ft. widths, so 2 would do it for the entire length of the SW side of my GH and being all vinyl, including the mounting bar, would hopefully survive the elements for a few years at least.

But that still leaves the need for something to mount the roller bar to, and we thought about using vinyl brickmould. Meaning: mount the roller bars to the brickmould, then the brickmould to the polybars on the GH, so as to get a strong bolt mount into the polybars every 2 feet and not worry about where the mounting holes on the shade rollers are located.

Anyone have some more ideas?

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