How to make a shade house

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Conophytum
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:20 pm
Location: Newport Beach, CA (Zone 10b)

How to make a shade house

Post by Conophytum »

How do I make a small shade house? Is it even worth it? My heat zone is 10b and I just wanna make one so for sowing seeds and storing mesembs.
mesembs are cool
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jerrytheplater
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Location: Bloomingdale, NJ (USDA Zone 6b)
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Re: How to make a shade house

Post by jerrytheplater »

It depends if you want to make a permanent structure or not. Here's cheap and temporary:

You could get one of those fold up canopies sold by Wal-Mart in the camping area. Just don't use the canopy they provide. Use shade cloth instead. You could lace it together with parachute cord, also sold in the camping section. This way you can always use the canopy later if desired. You will have to stake the canopy down so the wind won't take it away. You can use folding tables to hold your plants.
Jerry Smith
Bloomingdale, NJ
45 inches (114 cm) rain equivalent per year, approx. evenly spread per month
2012 USDA Hardiness Zone 6b: -5F to OF (-20C to -18C) min.
Conophytum
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:20 pm
Location: Newport Beach, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: How to make a shade house

Post by Conophytum »

What percent shade cloth should I use for heatzone 10b? I'm trying to germinate the mesembs and cactuses while also growing some adult specimens.
mesembs are cool
keith
Posts: 1860
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:50 am
Location: S. CA USA

Re: How to make a shade house

Post by keith »

Are you protecting them from rain ? for a walk in structure I would use 2x4 and cement footings sold at home depot type stores. Shade cloth I use 50% from Arizona bag and UV plastic from greenhouse mega store and build small portable greenhouses . pictures in the greenhouse topic.
Conophytum
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:20 pm
Location: Newport Beach, CA (Zone 10b)

Re: How to make a shade house

Post by Conophytum »

Yes with plastic film. By the way, do you not cover the entire structure? It looks like you only covered about 50%
mesembs are cool
DaveW
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Location: Nottingham, England/UK

Re: How to make a shade house

Post by DaveW »

The original shade houses were known as Lath Houses. These had timber laths in a hit and miss pattern to provide flickering sunlight on the plants as the sun moved across the sky rather than constant sunlight so mimicking sunlight through tree branches. On these of course the laths have to be arranged at 90 degrees to the suns path in order to provide the "flickering" effect. Therefore, depending on the position of the Lath House the laths will often need to be diagonal rather than vertical or horizontal on the structure

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxserp=0

Nowadays, as others have said, shade cloth is used instead although the intermittent sunlight "flickering" effect is now gone.
keith
Posts: 1860
Joined: Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:50 am
Location: S. CA USA

Re: How to make a shade house

Post by keith »

The plastic covers most of the Benches. I put it on for rain or fog to protect cactus in Winter and Spring. Conophytums just get rained on most of the time.
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C And D
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Location: Costa Mesa, CA
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Re: How to make a shade house

Post by C And D »

You don't want rain to drench your Conos, many Mesembs or seedlings
We had over an inch of rain this week, which would have been way too much water

So you will need a solid cover of clear film or plastic
and then you will need additional shade cloth underneath

I use 60% for my Conos and seedlings in Orange California, and they still get a little too much sun in the Summer months
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
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