swamprad
Memphis Orchid Society
My new 18 x 24 greenhouse is all framed up, and will soon be finished! I'll post a thread with photos when we finish. But I need some help figuring out how to make the shade cloth work for me.
My new greenhouse is triple polycarbonate, which already blocks 20% of the light. I am going to use the aluminet shade cloth, but I'm not sure what percentage I need. My collection is probably 3/4 slippers, but I have quite a few catts, oncidiums, and other high light plants, not to mention the phrags and multifloral paphs, which are also high light.
The first question is what percentage shade cloth do I need for low light slippers, and what percentage shade cloth do I need for catts and other high light genera?
The second question is, how do I manage to satisfy the light requirements of both low light and high light plants in the same greenhouse?
Some people have told me to hang the high light plants up high and keep the lower light plants underneath, which seems sketchy to me at best. i.e., unless you had a fairly uniform number of hanging plants blocking light, you'd have a mixture of too sunny areas and too shady areas on the bench.
Or, should I have two "strengths" of shade cloth, one for each end of my greenhouse, to create a high light area and a low light area? This doesn't seem like a good idea either, since the sun moves back and forth in the sky, and doesn't shine down from directly above. Light may shine through the high light shade cloth on a slant and burn my low light slippers, even though they are directly below the low light shadecloth.
Or, should I have a moderate shade cloth on the outside of the entire house, which would be suitable for the higher light plants, and then rig up a second shade cloth inside the house a few feet above my low light slippers? Actually, this seems like it may be the more logical option.
I'd appreciate any and all comments! How have you guys solved this problem?
My new greenhouse is triple polycarbonate, which already blocks 20% of the light. I am going to use the aluminet shade cloth, but I'm not sure what percentage I need. My collection is probably 3/4 slippers, but I have quite a few catts, oncidiums, and other high light plants, not to mention the phrags and multifloral paphs, which are also high light.
The first question is what percentage shade cloth do I need for low light slippers, and what percentage shade cloth do I need for catts and other high light genera?
The second question is, how do I manage to satisfy the light requirements of both low light and high light plants in the same greenhouse?
Some people have told me to hang the high light plants up high and keep the lower light plants underneath, which seems sketchy to me at best. i.e., unless you had a fairly uniform number of hanging plants blocking light, you'd have a mixture of too sunny areas and too shady areas on the bench.
Or, should I have two "strengths" of shade cloth, one for each end of my greenhouse, to create a high light area and a low light area? This doesn't seem like a good idea either, since the sun moves back and forth in the sky, and doesn't shine down from directly above. Light may shine through the high light shade cloth on a slant and burn my low light slippers, even though they are directly below the low light shadecloth.
Or, should I have a moderate shade cloth on the outside of the entire house, which would be suitable for the higher light plants, and then rig up a second shade cloth inside the house a few feet above my low light slippers? Actually, this seems like it may be the more logical option.
I'd appreciate any and all comments! How have you guys solved this problem?