Shade Cloth for your Garden (How and Why I Have One)
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Here on the desert, almost any advise you find online about how to help your plants is to add a shade cloth. Today I am talking about my MASSIVE shade cloth structure, the reason it was designed this way, and how shade cloths can benefit your garden.
At the start of building this desert homestead, I knew that a shade cloth over my garden was going to be a large investment that was non-negotiable. With the heat and aridity of this area, I have to give my large garden the best chance possible to grow as much food as I can!
Come along with me as I talk about how a shade cloth can benefit your garden, how to construct one cheaply (or for free), and how I set mine up to be the best for my homestead and my food garden.
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Oh honey I appreciate your comments about the heat. I am in Arizona in the desert and today we’re going to get up to 109 so from here on out till the end of September it’s going to be hot. After living out here 28 years, I have learned to just put my garden to bed before everything bolts and then start again in September. With a shade cloth you betcha that’s a good thing. Thank you for your input and God Bless you
Thanks for your response! Goodness 109 already!? There's new mexico hot.....and then there ARIZONA hot 🔥 🥵
What shade % do you use in AZ?
@bajablast989 chiming in from CA at least %50 or greater blocking potential. Plan to block the sun from 9am-7pm. Also this is just for our home. Shading walls from the sun cuts the heat in the house immensely in summer.
I live in the Pacific Northwest Zone 8b to 9a where the summers are generally fairly mild. The temperatures may exceed 100° for a day or two, typically that’s about it. However, a couple years ago we did reach 117° on one day. That was very hard on the garden. We do, however, have very dry air and even at the moderately lower temperatures than you have there, I have found it necessary or at least beneficial to have a 40% shade cloth over the garden for the hottest part of the summer. The quality of the produce is improved considerably by doing this.
Thats great information, thanks for sharing!
I live near Denver, and I’m sick and tired of my fruit trees get decimated with EXTREME of all sort of things-extreme heat, extreme sudden cold, extreme wind and hail,…. So I’m building a sort of greenhouse around a number of fruit trees I planted few years ago. My goal is simply having something like a sort of “speed bump” to slow down the extreme weather’s brutality, when they come in to say hello to my fruit trees.
This is a great and informative video! Thank you so much! I grow a lot of succulents in spring and summer . I’m in TN . It’s hot and humid in the summer. Many of my succulents will sunburn without a shade cloth. But with 40% black one , they don’t get the beautiful colors as much. I’m considering trying a white one so they get all the UV light for color and get the heat protection from the white . They are more expensive tho . Harder to find as well . 30% black is a decent balance for color . But sometimes the heat and humidity bother some of them . I appreciate you explaining everything in this video. I hope I’m comprehending it all correctly. Thank you so much 😊
Thanks so much for your input! Very interesting info about the succulents and losing color... I had no idea that would happen! I'd be interested to learn if you purchased a white one and how it worked out for you. Happy gardening!
We need them here in SE Texas. Using them this summer for much of the garden and plan to expand. Really need it for the fall garden too. For the past 2 years it has been up in the 90's in late October. Plays havoc with the brassicas. 🙃
Oh no! Yah our major problem here is being hot during the day. And then too cold at night so the flip flop stresses the plants 😅
I have a small garden in SW Nebraska (-20 in the winter up to 117 degrees in the summer). Very little rain, if any, after the Spring. I began my garden this year with shade cloth positioning before a single plant goes in the ground. People here tend to grow what grows in this climate (beans, radishes, onions, and some tomatoes) and that is the end of the home garden. I like to grow pepper plants which love the heat but will look derelict if you don;t shade them by the end of June. Under cloth everything is quite different. I have my cloth running west to east, at variable angles as the year progresses. Yes, my plants get some direct sun (and wind), but it is usually morning or evening sun, and that is far less destructive. Also planting drought and cold resistant bamboo for shade this year. I have to say that folks gardening in high-heat environments are often the gardeners with the best crops once they figure out their area specifics. Great video.
Thanks so much and good luck!
Yeah that’s a nice shade cloth structure. Thanks for the info.
Good Monday morning Fireside Farms. Glad to see you're doing well - and so is the garden. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on providing a shade cloth for a desert garden. 🌻🌹🌼
Thanks Richard!
@@thefiresidefarm You're quite welcome of course!!
I'm moving to S. Carolina from Washington State in 5 days. Trying to learn about growing in a hot humid area, great video. Protection for the plants...and me too!
Good luck! Hope I can help you!
@@thefiresidefarm you already have, thank you!
Check out Millennial Gardener and Roots and Refuge, he is in North Carolina and she is in South Carolina
Fl Gardner , Shade Cloth comes out may-sept. I am in the process of also making a "rain dome" as well for our heavy wet seasons.
A rain dome? Is that to keep the plants from drowning?
@@thefiresidefarm yes- Florida is experiencing some constant days of rain. It’s compacting the soil and causing some root rot in my beans , squash (surprisingly), among others.
@agentks309 oh that's terrible! It's crazy how I could be longing for something you have so much of that's actually harming you rather than benefiting you. I watch David the Good's channel and he is very informative about the difficulties of gardening in Florida.
Lmao. Whenever you talked about the shade cloth, I was like “I don’t see it”, but believed it had been up there the whole time. Glad to finally see it 😂
Hahahahahaha
Looks great!
Thanks!
I live in southeast NC and when summer comes my tomato plants suffer. I love tomatoes, so I will try a shade cloth this summer.
I live in AZ high desert where we have a very windy season until summer. What structure did you purchase, or did you build it yourself? Could you please share more info about the structure? I need something that will stand up to the wind and you mentioned that you have wind also. Thanks Megan!
The structure I'm talking about is the one in the video. It was built for me out of metal
We get 120 many, many days in the summer. Garden hose water comes out at scalding hot at midnight with it never cooling off. I have to use a reservoir system and hand water with a scoop. We also have to turn off our hot water hearter in the summer and even so, never get a cool shower.
Wow that's crazy! Where do you live?
@@thefiresidefarm Deep in the Mojave Desert.
I live in the Netherlands and shade cloth works very well for me. I did a measurement with 30% shade cloth and it made a significant difference in temperature. About 30 degrees Fahrenheit difference between the measurement in the full sun and the shaded area. We had an unusual cold and wet Spring season and no flower seeds were willing to germinate in the full ground. The first week of summer the temperatures finally went up enough and I used pots to seed my flower seeds so that I could put them at the most sunny spot in my tiny garden. But is well over a month later as the recommended time to seed the seeds, so when we do have a clear sunny sky it can easily get far too hot far too fast for the young seedlings. But shade cloth saved the day, without it I would have had to keep moving my pots and planters around to keep them out of the full sun.
I also have an aquaponics system with 4 IBC growbeds with lava rocks as a grow media. When the sun is intense it can get far too hot really quick, and I can't move those growbeds around. So eventually I am going to use the shade cloth to protect my growbeds. Where I live most days of the year the cloth is not needed, but a single very hot day can stun the plants from which the plants have to recover for days or even weeks before they start growing and producing fruit again. And in the worst case they can even die. And it also helps to keep insects away, and it helps to lower the water evaporation rate.
Awesome thanks for sharing! So much good information
Thinking about a bug proof net house. To the extend season and lower the pest load, air flow is a concern. On the edge to 9b-10a, 1050km South is 9a but it's so different.
Not sure what the game plan is before wasting a lot of time and money.
We have very heavy rain every 1-2 weeks in winter, can have droughts 4-6 weeks in extreme heat for us (30c).
70-90% RH normally peak summer becomes super dry.
Powdery mildew can be an issue. With tight bug netting I imagine it would limit airflow retaining moisture and heat 🥵
What are your thoughts for an enclosed net house?
I wonder if I could get away with shade cloth on the roof with 3m walls to let the heat out. 100m2 for just this one structure so it's not going to be cheap 🧐
Very nice. I love your garden set up. Send me some warmth and I’ll send you 3 1/2 inches of rain ❤
Done deal!
😂 if you say, blocking the sun in the evening 😂 Africa is Loughing. Sun set at 20h 00 in West Africa 😂 after that Its dark. In June UK Sun Was Up There At 20h 00 until 22h 00. Funny How Wonderful This World Is Even In The North Pole ❤😂
Great video thank 5
No problem 👍
Could you talk about the T-post/wooden structure that you have supporting the shade cloth? How you made that... Unless you already did in another video that I may have missed. Thanks!
Well I briefly spoke about it in another video..but it was a large failure so I didn't explore the topic much 🤣
We sunk 4x4 post about 4 feet in the ground, cemented the hole, and then attached a corner of the shade cloth to each post. It did not have any support in the middle and ended up sagging heavily. It was just too much surface area without enough support. Along with our very snady soil and the high winds we experience, it completely fell apart, which is why I had to contract it our to professionals to build a more sturdy support structure.
@@thefiresidefarm oh no! Why was it a failure? It looks pretty nice and functional to me.
@@KsuDC oh. Wr had initially started eith 4x4 wooden posts but re0laced it with the metal structure in the video. I thought you had been talking about my previous structure that I mentioned
Thank you for this video! Can i ask what you have covered the tops of your T-posts? I have had a shade cloth get damaged from the wind and the T-post snagged the cloth
I actually just wrapped them in duct tape on the top🤣🤣 it worked for a little bit but sometimes it still snags and I have a growing hole over where my t-post are. You may try a pool noodle with tape on it?....but consistent rubbing over a long period of time on ANY material will eventually put a hole in it. The plastic strips that makes the shade cloth just slowly deteriorate over time in the sun and wind. But hopefully you can extend the life of it!
Interesting.. good info
Watching these even tho my reason of buying a net shade is for my turtoise 😂 she love the humidty and heat here in florida but 110f is too much
Haha your tortoise deserves some shade too
O, I looove your shade structure. Did you build it yourself? You probably have a video on it....
I did not build it unfortunately. I'm not a welder, but I did contract out the work to a friend
I am in zone 13 india. I just realized I need the shade net. My bitter gourd vine flowering but the leaves are burning. produce also comes in small lize even though there are many fruits coming out and lots of flowers. But my plant taking really a lot of heat. I need to get the shade net asap.
Could you provide detail shade cloth structure. Thank you.
Thanks for the information about the shade cloth shouldn't touch the plant- no other gardener has said that. I have mine draped over my tomatoes ( they do have cages) but the cloth still touches my plants. My tomatoes are in containers and the cloth just sits on top of the cages. I noticed you only have shade cloth over the top do you only need it over the top of the tomatoes? I have mine totally surrounded in cloth- all sides of the containers are under the cloth. I live in zone 8 a but we are hot and humid. I am still getting flowers on my tomatoes will they have time to fully develope and turn red before November 15th(our predicted first frost)?
They don't need to be surrounding the plant completely...though it's not harmful if they are. You just don't want it so close to the plants that it traps heat (like a blanket).
You should have enough time for tomatoes by the first frost
Do you know if shade cloth provides more/less shade based on the height it is above the plants? I've seen it used everywhere from a couple feet above the plants to very high, like yours, and I wonder if it makes any difference?
I don't believe so...but I have never researched it 😁
Just dnt let cloth touch the plant
Can you do a video on how you water
I’m Canadian in southern Japan. It’s very hot (105F) and humid. Do my watermelon fruit need protection from the hot afternoon sun? Wonder if the vines would also benefit from some shade cloth draped over a frame like yours?
I would definitely think so! But if your area is hot but still recieves a lot of overcast from clouds it may not be a good idea.
@@thefiresidefarm Thanks! I decided to go ahead and build a simple frame and install shade cloth yesterday over my watermelon. My area has clear blue sky every day this time of year with no cloud cover, so the sun is very intense. I was surprised, the Garden Center had 50% and 70%-blockage shade cloth and the staff recommended I use the 70%. We’ll see how the watermelon responds. I’m slightly worried the 70% is blocking too much sun, but then again with the very high heat here, maybe the watermelon will appreciate the protection and grow better. I have 6 plants with about 20 watermelon fruit now.
Hi, thanks for the video sry if you have already said on this, what are the poles and framing made from. ?
It's all metal
@@thefiresidefarm thank you for your quick reply.
Have you tried adding water misters. They don’t use that much water and reduce temp by 10 degrees. I have them hooked up to my bhyve hose timer
I haven't tried that but I'd be interested to look into it!( Especially because I personally would sit under a mister for hours if I had one haha🤣)
Have you found that the added moisture causes any fungal problems in your plants?
@@thefiresidefarm BTW: The water misters use standard 1/4 tube so you can stretch out the individual misters as far apart as you want.
@starduneranch thanks! I'm gonna have chase install them as soon birthday present🤣🤣
We also live in New mexico, so this is really relevant. In latitude, are you closer to Raton, Taos, Albuquerque, Socorro, or Las Cruces? I'm asking because the optimal transmitted sunlight may vary. It would be really useful to hear about the frame itself. We are starting smaller, but I have questions like: 1. Can you use treated or untreated wood for the frame to withstand very windy conditions (we have them too.) 2. We are starting with one 10x8 raised bed. Is it sturdy enough to bolt the frame uprights to the sides of the bed? Thanks for the post.
Hey there! I'm actually closer to Las Cruces...at about 4000 feet.
I've used untreated wood my entire time I've been here and it hasn't been a problem. And I don't "bolt" anything. I have several videos where I make beds and all I use it wood and screws. 😁
@@thefiresidefarm Thanks for the reply. Based on the shape of the mountains in the background, I thought you were near Las Cruces. Great about the untreated wood.
I'm in Arkansas and I have high winds and tornadoes, how well does the shay cloth hold up to those elements? (Not necessarily tornadoes but how does it hold up to gusty high winds)
It holds up very well. I got grommets installed every 6 inches so it is lashed down pretty tight to the steucture
Great Peronality. Great Real Talk. And your cap, hilarious. America needs a lot more of this. Just found your channel and subscribed. Thank you!
Welcome aboard!
what are the tee post for?
I spoke to soon,
Did you use cables or steel tube? What size post and how deep ?
They are metal poles. Not sure how deep but I know it was a minimum of 3 feet. I didn't make the structure, i contracted the work out to some metal workers.
peppers like heat and shade
how many years do think you will get out of the shade cloth. I got mine from OBC northwest 47% for woven , knit is 41%
Not sure how long I think it will last. We are on year 3 and it's still going strong so I'm confident I have many years left
Who made your shade cloth structure and what was the cost? Thanks!
It was a local company to my area...a family friend who welds actually. It cost several thousand dollars
I feel your pain been there done that
What size is your garden?
It's *approximately* 2400 square feet currently
Thank you, but I guess I asked the question wrong, I was wondering what the length and width was.
28 cents a grommet
Do you have a video on the structure building? I live in a desert and high winds. 110 degrees & gust winds of 50 mph. Thanks
I'm sorry I do not! A company did it for me
I’m outside of Tucson n just acquired Aluminet this year, I’ll share my input once we hit 100s
Definitely would love to hear about it!