Shade Cloth

[ellidro]

Sorry for the newbie question but I want the best growing conditions possible.  I have a shade house on my side yard that gets half day sun.  Currently it has 75% home depot shade cloth that doesn't seem to allow enough sun in for optimal growth. My question is what % is best for growth without burning my plants. I'm growing several different madagascar and new caledonia palms including dypsis: pembana, lanceolota, saintelucei, florencei, pink crowshaft, betafaka, tsarovisara, ambositrae (fakey an poss. real deal) and many more. For new Caledonia: chambeyronia (hookeri and macro), kentiopsis (olivaformis and pyroformis), burretokentia(hapala and velardii) and many more.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Nick

[Davidl]

I use 50% here in south central fl and it works good.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Sup Nick,

I'm something of a newbie here too...  but I'm really good at giving my 2 cents worth!    Most, if not all, of the species you mentioned will thirve under shady conditions...  Age plays an important role here as well...  I'm in a 10b zone and am about half a mile from the ocean...  All of my plants (sadly) are under 2 feet and I kept them under full shade for the first 6 months of their life....  and have moved them to 70% over this winter season.  I have noticed a small amount of sun bleaching but for the most part not enough to be concerned about...  THat's a whole lot of blah blah blah... quick and skinny of it... if your in a simlar climate I would just stick with the 70%shade cloth until the plants can handle more sun...  alot of those small dypsis can handle shade for years...  I'm sure that doesn't help and probably makes more confusion than you started with but hey, you asked for it!  maybe one of the pros will come in here and give you a good answer!  HAH!  

[Dypsisdean]

Nick,

My philosophy when I had a shade house is probably a little different than most. Considering that I live so close to the coast (in Cal.), I used 40%. It was harder to find, but I had a lot of it lying around because I had used it when I was growing Cymbidiums.

My feeling was it provided enough protection, while at the same time making it less stressful for the palm when finally moving it out in the sun. For those palms that will never go in full sun, or new tender seedlings, more shade would probably be better. But if you contemplate making your shade house a cold frame by adding plastic, 40% with plastic worked great for seedlings and understory palms as well.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

If you're only getting half day sun, I'd say 30-40 % would be needed, especially so close to the coast.

[paulgila]

what would you recommend for further inland(sdsu area) & all day sun?

[palmsrgreat]

I use 50% here in the blazing hot Houston heat. Works perfect for some kings that I have.

Gemplers is a great online store that has pretty much any % shade you're looking for.

[BS Man about Palms]

Nick-

 

Dean lives closest to you and I would say take his advise....

Paul- I bet 50-55% would be fine for you..

Bill

[Phil]

Hi Nick,

I did some light measurements at our nursery about a month ago.  I found that readings under 75% cloth outdoors were half of what the palm was seeing indoors with a painted roof.  So, I agree that 75% is too dark for many species, especially those which are destined to see sun in time.  I'd go with 50% and perhaps save a swath of 75% for real shade loving things.

Phil.

[ellidro]

Thanks everyone for your input.  I just put up 50% shade cloth today.  I'm using the shadehouse to transition 1-3g plants up to 5 and 15g sizes.  My 5 and 15g sizes have a nice strong filtered light spot under a large tree.  I'm hoping this process speeds up growth while allowing for easier acclimation into the garden.

Nick

[gsn]

Stupid question probably.

What percentage would you say an ordinary black fiberglass screen,  in a screened in porch  provide?

[MattyB]

I'm using exactly what Dean described above ('cause I got the materials from him).  Plastic w/ a 40% shade cloth over it, which probably equals about 50% shade total because the plastic isn't crystal clear.  This is awesome in my opinion.  In the summer when the sun's angle is most severe it's very bright in there.  I put my seedlings under the leaves of other, taller plants to filter even more if needed but it's usually not an issue.  I too started out using the home depot 75% shade cloth and it was too dark in my opinion.