Craft Lattice Shade Hut
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:14 am
Hey Everybody,
As I've stated previously....I've been having serious issues with sun-scorching on newly acquired plants. Tired of it, and have been tossing ideas around in my head for awhile to come up with a solution for my situation....and something that may be adaptable and beneficial for others.
Shade cloth is actually pretty expensive to acquire for small applications. Bug screen is not really self-supporting, so a frame would need to be built. Just one issue after another really.
I picked up some Craft Lattice months ago for the drain of my original soak station. Since then, the leftover has just been collecting dust. It dawned on me that it is self-supporting (to a degree), it's translucent nature should allow plenty of indirect light in, the square openings will allow direct light in and, also, airflow. Considering that my plants are outside in the Planter Bog...there is ample opportunity for airflow.
Other benefits are that it's readily available, inexpensive, adaptable, and safe and easy to work with...
So, here is the prototype:
And, some results!
This first picture is of plants that were received and planted into this pot 1 week BEFORE I built and started using the Shade Hut....and they are still looking very rough:
Last Tuesday I received some more plants. I planted them and then added the Shade Hut. Here is what they look like after 1 week...keep in mind that the scorched plants above and these newer plants have all been exposed to all day sun, at least 1 frost and freezing/below freezing temps:
Same pot, same media, same placement, same care...universe of difference.
So, it works. The craft lattice is basically self-supporting and can be adapted to a variety of situations.
I'm not quite sure what step 2, 3, etc are going to be. I'm trying to sort that out now.
As I've stated previously....I've been having serious issues with sun-scorching on newly acquired plants. Tired of it, and have been tossing ideas around in my head for awhile to come up with a solution for my situation....and something that may be adaptable and beneficial for others.
Shade cloth is actually pretty expensive to acquire for small applications. Bug screen is not really self-supporting, so a frame would need to be built. Just one issue after another really.
I picked up some Craft Lattice months ago for the drain of my original soak station. Since then, the leftover has just been collecting dust. It dawned on me that it is self-supporting (to a degree), it's translucent nature should allow plenty of indirect light in, the square openings will allow direct light in and, also, airflow. Considering that my plants are outside in the Planter Bog...there is ample opportunity for airflow.
Other benefits are that it's readily available, inexpensive, adaptable, and safe and easy to work with...
So, here is the prototype:
And, some results!
This first picture is of plants that were received and planted into this pot 1 week BEFORE I built and started using the Shade Hut....and they are still looking very rough:
Last Tuesday I received some more plants. I planted them and then added the Shade Hut. Here is what they look like after 1 week...keep in mind that the scorched plants above and these newer plants have all been exposed to all day sun, at least 1 frost and freezing/below freezing temps:
Same pot, same media, same placement, same care...universe of difference.
So, it works. The craft lattice is basically self-supporting and can be adapted to a variety of situations.
I'm not quite sure what step 2, 3, etc are going to be. I'm trying to sort that out now.