Suggestions in advance?

fanaticactus · Post by **fanaticactus** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:25 pm

I will have my first GH this year in Vermont. It's one of those from a catalog (Northern Tool), but I can't remember the brand name. It's 6x8' and has 6' headroom as well as an overhead vent for circulation. It will be located in an area that gets full sun almost all day--certainly during the hottest hours. There are no trees for even partial shade anywhere near it. Since outdoor temps can easily get into the 90's for a week or two sporadically during the summer (and hotter in the GH), I am thinking about installing a shade cloth somehow across at least one side of the roof, which are double polycarb panels. How is this best accomplished? Is the cloth stretched across several of the aluminum supports inside the GH? Do I construct some sort of semi-portable framework with shade cloth and simply place it over the benches, so I don't have to grapple with cloth attached inside the roof? I'm interested to know if anyone else has had this situation and has a fairly easy solution. Thanks for any ideas you can provide.

cactushobbyman · Post by **cactushobbyman** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:37 pm

Since you have aluminum supports, you made look into attaching the shade cloth/screen to wood strips at each end and attach the strips of wood to the aluminum supports if there is enough room. Then you can drape the cloth over the greenhouse you want to cover. Just be aware of any sharp parts of the greenhouse. I use 6' wide shade cloth cut to go from one wall, over the roof, and covering the other wall. When I take it off in winter, I just roll it up with the strips of wood attached. Two seasons so far with no damage.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:12 pm

I'd suggest covering the GH with the shadecloth, this will also help prolong the life of the poly by also being shaded. We have ours attached the roof ledge and then it drapes over the backside of the GH and is secured with bungee cords.

If you have the means, raising the shade cloth about a foot above the GH panels would prolong the poly best, but this method will require a few modifications to the GH and some extra planning while constructing it. Have't noticed any ill effects having it touching the poly, but on large pro commercial GH's this is how i've seen it installed.

iann · Post by **iann** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:13 pm

CoronaCactus wrote:I'd suggest covering the GH with the shadecloth, this will also help prolong the life of the poly by also being shaded. We have ours attached the roof ledge and then it drapes over the backside of the GH and is secured with bungee cords.

If you have the means, raising the shade cloth about a foot above the GH panels would prolong the poly best, but this method will require a few modifications to the GH and some extra planning while constructing it. Have't noticed any ill effects having it touching the poly, but on large pro commercial GH's this is how i've seen it installed.

Spoken like a true California native

Of course anywhere outside the Sunshine State, it can be cloudy and then you have a cold dark greenhouse. It can even rain

I have to throw sheets over my greenhouse on a handful of days each year to protect the Lithops and Copiapoas, but it might be more in Vermont. A semi-permanent solution would be nice but it really would be best if it isn't shaded all the time.

The standard roof vent on small greenhouses is also completely inadequate. More vents would be good, or a fan, or remove some panels in the summer, and leave the door open, or all of the above on sunny days.

fanaticactus · Post by **fanaticactus** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:06 pm

cactushobbyman wrote:Since you have aluminum supports, you made look into attaching the shade cloth/screen to wood strips at each end and attach the strips of wood to the aluminum supports if there is enough room. Then you can drape the cloth over the greenhouse you want to cover. Just be aware of any sharp parts of the greenhouse. I use 6' wide shade cloth cut to go from one wall, over the roof, and covering the other wall. When I take it off in winter, I just roll it up with the strips of wood attached. Two seasons so far with no damage.

In other words, it's a long piece of shadecloth with a 2x4 or similar nailed or stapled to each end? And then just drape the whole thing over the top of the GH to lessen the effects of the summer sun?

fanaticactus · Post by **fanaticactus** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:15 pm

@Darryl - These seem to be very good ideas. But you're saying to put it outside OVER the exterior of the entire GH, right? And the bungee cords are an excellent idea, since we often have huge thunderstorms build in northern NY State and sweep across Lake Champlain. Our area has had some wicked windstorms in the past few years.

@Ian - Your suggestions are also worthy of consideration. You are absolutely correct about the roof vent not being sufficient. I will definitely keep the door open and use a supplementary fan during those sultry days when there's not a breath of air.

Thank you all for these ideas to play around with. I'll share them with my builder (who is very clever with constructions) and see what we can come up with.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:49 pm

fanaticactus wrote:@Darryl - These seem to be very good ideas. But you're saying to put it outside OVER the exterior of the entire GH, right? And the bungee cords are an excellent idea, since we often have huge thunderstorms build in northern NY State and sweep across Lake Champlain. Our area has had some wicked windstorms in the past few years.

Yes, over the exterior. However, as Ian pointed out, having it easily installed or removed when not needed is a good idea. If you can find 48" or longer bungees, you could just flop the shadecloth over the GH and sling a few bungees together, flop those over from side to side and hook them at the bottoms of each side of the GH. Kinda like wrapping a gift

Don't forget to curtain the doorway with shadecloth when it's open! The plants near the door will probably get burnt.

Sometimes i forget what others have to deal with in relation to climate

cactushobbyman · Post by **cactushobbyman** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:38 am

This is what's great about posting ideas. Here in sunny Central California thunder storms don't happen to often in the summer months. But this works for me. No matter what you are wanting to do, you have to adjust for your needs. Hobby vs. commerical for example. West vs. East vs., South vs. North.

With the shade cloth you can roll one turn around a 1" X 1", staple it, then drape and do the same with the other end. You can take a 2x4 and ripe it to size. If your environment includes other factors that have been brought up, make the adjustments to your needs.

In my area, the outdoor temps have been: highs are in the mid 60's and lows are in the low 30's. Inside my greenhouse the temps are in the high 90's and lows in the mid 30's. I don't heat the greenhouse and my fan is set to go on at 90 degrees. I had to hang a shade cloth inside to protect some plants. I wasn't going to cover the outside of my greenhouse until late March. If we don't get any winter here soon, I'll have to cover the GH at the end of Feb.

Good luck

*Barracuda_52* · Post by ***Barracuda_52*** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:24 am

I agree with darryl and iann on alot of these things being here in northern michigan durring summer with sun blasting on the GHs they do heat up real fast and temps can easly get up to 125 in my cactus GH, so i have all vents open top and bottom plus double doors wide open and then have fans running at both ends of the GH, for shade cloth since i cant afford the real deal i make shift with a tarp and it still lets enough light thru so as not to have the cacti and succulents in the dark per say, hung from roof edge drapped down over the one side that gets the hotest part of the daily sun, but i only need to cover for few hrs then the sun gets to where its not as hot anymore and i can quickly and easly remove it for the rest of the day. The tropicals GH dont get as hot but still gets up there for temps but having a dutch door is nice as i can leave the top part open, run the double exhuast fan to suck the stale moist air out and the fans in the corners circulate the fresh air, which helps keep temps bareable for the tropicals..

Its nice having my doors facing directions where the sun aint blasting thru the doors.

Dmyerswny · Post by **Dmyerswny** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:08 am

What if you put it in a spot that doesn't get sun all day?

fanaticactus · Post by **fanaticactus** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:45 am

Dmyerswny wrote:What if you put it in a spot that doesn't get sun all day?

In an ideal world that would be great, and I appreciate your thoughts. But, being Vermont, the land is not exactly even and my choices were extremely limited without having to spend even more $$ on landscaping. The "lawn" just kinda happened, full of dips & lumps, etc. The spot where the GH will go is currently where a garden shed is, built on a flat concrete slab. The instructions for the GH say it can be anchored into either the ground or cement/concrete. The shed that's there now has seen better days & will be rebuilt on the rest of the slab--sometime during this winter if the weather up there cooperates with our builder. He'd like to do this job first because he has two garages to build in the Spring.

Dmyerswny · Post by **Dmyerswny** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:01 am

I have a concrete slab that I'm putting my GH on too. I'd like it to get more sun.

fanaticactus · Post by **fanaticactus** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:02 pm

Dmyerswny wrote:I have a concrete slab that I'm putting my GH on too. I'd like it to get more sun.

Good luck and good results with that. We'll be comparing notes this growing season, I imagine!