Greenhouse tan

The Spouse was wondering the other day if a person could go up in the greenhouse and get a tan? We have the double walled polycarbonate paneling on the south wall and roof. He went back and read all his literature on this stuff, and it didn't say anywhere either that you could, or if the tanning rays were filtered out. Anybody know?? That would be so cool if I could go up there and put my towel down, slop on the suntan lotion, and VOILA...........get a tan when it's cold out. Any info would be appreciated.

I did get a bit of a sunburn on my left arm driving from Key West to Ft Lauderdale one time. The window was closed the whole time. You also can get a tan through a t-shirt if you stay out long enough.
Try it and see what happens.

DS has all kinds of tan from sitting in the greenhouse transplanting on a sunny day.
We were working in our new one yesterday. Very little sun, but still was maybe 30º warmer than outside; no heater!
ßernie

Seem to have trouble spelling today, must be the big "A", LOL

This message was edited Sunday, Jan 26th 10:07 AM

This is a complex question, and the answer isn't entirely simple.

Both UVA and UVB radiation, which are invisible to the human eye (at a frequencies shorter than 400 nanometers), cause sunburn.

In order to prevent sunburn you need a material which either reflects or "interferes with" that radiation frequency.

A transparent or translucent material such as a greenhouse cover, probably does not reflect UV radiation, as it is optimized to admit the widest possible spectrum of light to enhance plant growth.

There are two types of chlorophyll in plants, A & B. Each makes use of slightly different frequencies to support plant metabolism.

Both types of chlorophyll rely heavily on light in the red range of the spectrum, 600 ~ 700 nanometers. And both types rely, to differing extents, on light in the range of 350 ~ 500 nanometers.

400 nanometers and smaller is the beginning of the UV portion of the light spectrum. Human vision cuts of at frequencies below approximately 400 nanometers.

Thus, I'd bet money you could get a sunburn in a greenhouse.

Adam.

Great explanation - this is info I have pondered on for sometime!
Thanks for clearing it up.

TLC

Oh baby,where's my thong.......LOL,next sunny day I'm gunna try it,I'll put a sticker on my shoulder to see if there is any tan when I remove it......

crestedchick, in the privacy of your own greenhouse, who is worried about a THONG?????? LOL Well, I can say that, I live in the country and my g'house is probably 350 feet from the road, and partially hidden by our machine shed!!! Nothin' I hate more than TAN LINES!!!!!

ROTFLMAO......

Oh my ,no thong lines either!!!

My GH is right next to the driveway,I can just see me running in the house ,throwing clothes on ,cause someone came down the driveway!!!

Hmmm. My greenhouse is on the roof of the university biology building. I could lock the door to the roof and only passing planes would know ;-)

I grew up in Fl and now my father has numerous areas of melanoma.(untreatable now) I'm probably next. I've also gotten a sunburn on areas that had never seen sun.... DON'T DO IT! The pain and peeling aren't worth it. I now look like a wrinkled raisin.