Shadecloth

[Ridgerunner]

@majorcatfish I saw your post in the lettuce thread and thought I'd break with tradition and not hijack that thread.

How did you attach that shade cloth to the top of your poles to the right of the photo and then take it to the ground level. There are no grommets up there. I'm considering trying shade cloth next summer. My beds are only 4' x 8' and I'll need to bring one side to the ground like you did.

Trying to figure out how to support it. My first thoughts are to support it at the four corners and run a rope along the edges of the shade cloth to tie the grommets to. Run a rope across the top where the shade cloth bends over and stake that edge to the ground.

We get enough thunderstorms with strong winds I'd want to be able to take it down pretty quickly. I'm thinking I'd just untie the ropes from the top of my supports and lay it on the ground where it is staked down. How badly does shade cloth tangle? Bird or deer netting is a pain to work with as it catches and tangles on everything.

What percent shade cloth did you get? Any comments on that. I see you got black instead of white. Any comments on that? I don't really care about how pretty it is, just does it work. That stuff isn't cheap, I want to avoid as many mistakes as I can.

 

[majorcatfish]

@seedcorn original purchased it for my artichoke seedlings since they did not like our summer sun/ heat <still lost a couple>. still wanted sun to get to them all the places i looked only had 50-90% shade finally found this place. they range from 30-90%.

Garden & Greenhouse Coverings - Greenhouse Megastore

Be it bad weather or pests, there are constant threats to your garden. Protect your plants with Garden and Greenhouse Coverings at Greenhouse Megastore.

www.greenhousemegastore.com

they had a 30% in the size i was looking for, the nice thing about this place you can get a custom shade cloth made
yes you will pay a little extra but you will get what you want! plus i have gotten a few ideas for building a greenhouse.
the only thing i did not like was the ball ties that came with it dont think they would hold up in strong winds for long.

as for attaching it to the poles just used whatever i had handy <twine from a bale of straw/ hemp twine> to attach it to all the poles since i will be removing it for the winter. as for folding it up for the winter it should be easy to fold nothing like bird netting...

this winter will get one for the raised bed area dont know what size yet more in likely it will be a custom size.

north side..

southside bottom..

side supports anchored them with a concrete pin with rope for the wind, it's worked pretty good so far always room for improvements have all winter to that

sorry ass weeds have taken over....grrrr

did not put a rope between the 2 south uprights, wanted it to be able move freely during our wonderful summer storms.

hope this gives you some ideas to work with..

 

[Ridgerunner]

That place has a lot more options than the sites I found. Prices dd not look ridiculous either. I'll have to do some comparisons. I'd want them to do the grommets and taping. I think at the end of the day I'd benefit from that.

I was thinking more along 50% shade cloth instead of your 30%. That is one of my big decisions. Still unsure about that.
The big question is the supports. Looks like spare water pipe and some T-posts. I'll probably wind up with T-posts. Always worried about the wind blowing them over.

My beds are 2x12's so I'll probably just use nails through the grommets to hold that low edge down. Or maybe screws and washers for easy removal.

I have an idea if I just do it it won't be that hard. I chatted with the extension agent a bit. Not sure how much experience he actually had with shade cloth but he said it could reduce temperatures by 15 degrees or so. I'm not sure but may try it to see what happens. It would be an interesting experiment.

When I hang a tarp I usually weave a rope through the grommets and tie off to the rope except on the corners. Seems to keep the grommets from pulling out as much.