Hot, Hot Summers- Shade Cloth?

It gets into the 100's at my house during the summer and my garden is in the sun most of the day. To help bring the temperature down a little and protect the plants from the worst of the sun, I want to put up a shade cloth. The question is what % shade cloth do I buy? I have read anything from 30%-50%. What do you recommend??
Thanks for your help!

Hi there...

I remember you from a thread where we were talking shade cloth last year - lol...

I use a 40% aluminet shade cloth. It did really well last summer and my garden was very very happy. Depending on when it gets hot and stays hot, the cloth will go up sometime towards the end of April - sooner if needed. Here's the thread from last year...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/981570/#top

Kelly

I remember you too! I'm glad to hear that your shade structure worked and that your garden was happy. Sadly I never had a chance to put up shade last year and the garden didn't do to well. So this year I am hoping to improve things by FINALLY getting some shade up.

I suppose I should have gone back to find my original post, but I am very glad I asked the question again. I thought you had used 30%, not 40%. Given the cost, I don't want to buy the wrong thing.

??I have a question about aluminet. My garden is located on the side of my house near my neighbor and is also seen from the street. I know that aluminet has reflective qualities. Do you think it could bother my neighbors or passing cars?? How reflective is it??

Thanks again for your help!

I don't see any issue with the reflective qualities. Anything is reflected upward, plus I have one that runs at a diagonal from the top of the structure part way down the west side and I don't recall seeing any type of reflective issue. And I walked by it all the time - lol.

Hopefully the shade will be what you need to help your garden this summer! It made a definite difference for me. Everything would have fried. Here they recommend 50% for tomatoes but that is too much in my opinion for other veggies. My maters did fine with the 40%, and if you remember my garden is on the south side of my house with full western exposure!

Which veggies need the shade? Our tomatoes, cantaloupes, watermelon, squash, okra, pole beans, and cukes have done well in full sun. On the other hand, letting the sun shine on bare soil makes it very difficult to keep any moisture in it, so we mulch heavily.

What zone is Tonto Basin, Frank? I'm guessing your full sun and Phoenix full sun are not the same. I shade all my summer veggies. It helps to retain moisture plus cuts down on sun scald. The vines that peek out from under the shaded area don't look so good - lol.

Zone 9A. 'Course zones are categorized by how cold it gets, not by heat or sun. It's consistently 7 or 8 degrees cooler here than in the valley because of the altitude difference, but the sun's the same. I shaded a couple seasons, then I got unwilling to put the effort in. I could be missing out, who knows.

Sounds like you do just fine with the mulch! If your plants are happy you'll know it. If they're unhappy you'll know that too - lol. My garden is on the south side of my house with a full western exposure. Plus that yard is surrounded by a block wall. Can you say "heat island"?!?! Without shade my poor veggies would be toast;o( I'm hoping my orange and lemon trees grow up real soon. That will help a lot with the exposure issues in the back yard.

JLEM ~ did you intend to use it overhead or on the west side? Is that why you wondered how much it reflected light?
It will also help to plant taller plants on the west side to provide evening shade for the more tender plants.

I too have wondered about percentages of shade cloth and need to read up on it. I want some for GH use.

This is my first post, I just found this forum! This will be my 9th year here in Ca. and last year was the first that I seemed to have some problems with heat stress with cucks and squash. Save yourself some money. What I did was take some old bedsheets and used them as a shade. I used some thin poles and used squeeze clamps to hold the sheet to the pole. Neither plant was fully shaded but as long as the center portion of the plant is shaded, it will be happy. They perked up in like 2-3 hours. All it really does is get the heart of the plant out of the blazing sun, and light still filters through. Mine are white, but any color will work, just cut to size.

greenstubbs - I have a friend here in Phoenix that uses sheets and old sheers from the thrift store. It helps considerably if purchasing ahade cloth is not in your budget. We had our shade cloth custom made for a decent price from International Greenhouse Company...

http://www.igcusa.com/

The biggest threat here is not so much the heat as the plants we grow for summer can handle the well over 100° temps. It's the relentless sumemr sun that does plants in here in the desert.

Podster- We are planning on putting it overhead(6ft+/-), but our house sits slightly lower than some of the other houses. I personally don't think it would be a problem, but my husband is a little worried.

Greenstubbs- Thanks for the sheet idea. While we don't have much money to spare, my husband is willing to spend the cash for the shade cloth. It is a great tip though. :-)

LOL ~ were I your neighbor, I would protest the sight of bedsheets flying in the air far sooner the aluminet would bother me... 8 )

Sorry you feel that way podster, but I have a 6' privacy fence and no one see's inside my yard. How high do you think I put these sheets anyway? Depending on the plant, it's no higher than say a foot above that!
Locakelly- Our temps here are from the mid 90's to low 100's, yea, it's not the heat, it's the hammering sun that wilts them and it does work to keep them happy.

I did mean it tongue in cheek after JLEM was concerned about the aluminet being too reflective. I am fortunate to live in the woods and anyone that might see my mess probably is trespassing. Sorry if I was offensive and welcome to DG.

No problem, none taken, thanks.

Dang mine is from Easy Gardener and says 75% more shade, but thats it.I wonder if the 40% ones mean something different.... It's the one from Lowes. I love it by the way.

I think I'm going to try the sheet cover. I don't need a large area covered, since I have everything in containers. But I don't want to pay for the price of a professional-looking one, and -- being a bit lazy, especially in the heat -- I don't want to have to set it up.

Thanks for the idea, greenstubbs.

This message was edited Apr 12, 2010 10:55 AM