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Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:51 pm
by Nats
Never quite got a good answer to this question;
I have a white shear cloth covering my mini greenhouse to diffuse the hot sun.
So, my plants are getting the sunlight filtered through this cloth.
My question is, are they still getting proper light for photosynthisis?

When weather permitts, I do take my plants out of the greenhouse and put them
in the open sun for a while, then return them.

I am hoping the hottest part of the season will be over soon and I can remove the cloth.

There is no other place for me to put the greenhouse :(

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 7:31 am
by SnapSnapIOM
All i know Nats is that white in most forms will reflect alot of sun away. I also know you can get certain products from garden centers that will shade your greenhouse but this will cost more.

Personally all i would do is continue using what you have and just keep an eye on it.

I do know that some of my traps in my greenhouse are not getting lots of direct sunlight and are doing fine.

i forgot to ask how thick is this cloth your using ? if its thick am sure it will block all the sunlight if so i would head to a garden center or something similar and find something that is my for the job.

Thats all i can think of

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 5:46 pm
by Nats
SnapSnapIOM wrote:All i know Nats is that white in most forms will reflect alot of sun away. I also know you can get certain products from garden centers that will shade your greenhouse but this will cost more.

Personally all i would do is continue using what you have and just keep an eye on it.

I do know that some of my traps in my greenhouse are not getting lots of direct sunlight and are doing fine.

i forgot to ask how thick is this cloth your using ? if its thick am sure it will block all the sunlight if so i would head to a garden center or something similar and find something that is my for the job.

Thats all i can think of

It's very thin.
It's an old cutain that lets light through, very shear, but you cant really see through it.

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:51 pm
by Jaws
If you want to be sure, buy a small piece of the actual material that is sold for greenhouse shading.
An actual cloth might be reducing the overall light, but wouldnt be sure without a light meter test.

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 9:45 pm
by nep lover
I am hoping the hottest part of the season will be over soon
DANG RIGHT!!! I am tired of cutting off dying plants!

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:19 pm
by Nats
Jaws wrote:If you want to be sure, buy a small piece of the actual material that is sold for greenhouse shading.
An actual cloth might be reducing the overall light, but wouldnt be sure without a light meter test.

What kind of light meter do you mean?
I have lots of photographic light meters! how would that help?
The cloth I am using is very shear and I can see through it like a nylon stocking.
So I will bet it is just as good as a regular greenhouse cloth!?

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:13 pm
by FBIMOBSTER
This is where you can get a custom shade cloth!!
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/prod ... hade-cloth
I got a greenhouse with 8mm Polycarbonate Panels so it allready blocks out about 20 percent of the sun light!!

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:44 pm
by Nats
FBIMOBSTER wrote:This is where you can get a custom shade cloth!!
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/prod ... hade-cloth
I got a greenhouse with 8mm Polycarbonate Panels so it allready blocks out about 20 percent of the sun light!!

Thanks for the link, I will check that out ;)

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:44 am
by Jaws
Nats wrote:
Jaws wrote:If you want to be sure, buy a small piece of the actual material that is sold for greenhouse shading.
An actual cloth might be reducing the overall light, but wouldnt be sure without a light meter test.

What kind of light meter do you mean?
I have lots of photographic light meters! how would that help?
The cloth I am using is very shear and I can see through it like a nylon stocking.
So I will bet it is just as good as a regular greenhouse cloth!?

Test the lumens coming through the greenhouse with and without cloth material in place :)
You will be able to see if there is any major difference using the cloth.

If the cloth is as thin as you say, it shouldnt reduce it much at all.

Re: Cloth cover on my greenhouse

Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:01 pm
by Nats
Using a light meter, there was maybe 1/4 of an f stop difference, needle barely moved.

I also decided to cut some vents in the greenhouse and just tape them open or shut.
That, with 4 fans should help.
It's supposed to be 98 again today!!

I have given up hope on my Maroon monsters and my Pink Venus.
I dont think they are going to make it through the summer :(