I use a large box-fan blowing in the doorway to keep any mold from taking hold. Also because my Rion is made of some plastic stuff, not aluminum. My GHs are so hot in summer even with shade cloths I don't use them. But then we have a lot of space so the plants spend the summer outside.

ladylotus: Any shade is useful and as much as I love the look of my curved eave GH, I now realize that it isn't as practical as a straight eave, because hanging shades inside is more difficult.

Making roller shades from shadecloth sounds like a great winter project, and I think you are right on target. Being able to change the shade in different parts of the GH as needed makes a lot of sense. As the season and perhaps plants change, so can the shade.

I say- go for it.

I agree, I think this is a good time of year to be considering shadecloth! IÂve got my Aluminet shadecloth rigged up in a number of temporary ways...tape, string, baling wire. IÂm looking forward to winter temps so I can take them down and do some sewing to make them look and function better.

IÂve read that shadecloth is most effective when used on the outside of the GH, but I donÂt want to fight our bad winds to keep an outside shadecloth in place. IÂve only had my GH up since July, but I will use it year round. IÂm exploring ways to use shadecloth inside, or well-secured in screen frames outside.

For outside, I made screens out of Aluminet shade cloth using the DIY screen components at the box stores, and right now theyÂre on my outside south wall, on top of the poly panels. In hot weather I remove the poly panels and just have screens in place.

Inside, I have Aluminet draped over a rod at the roof peak, going down to the eave on each side (like a tent, just under the roof.) I also have a triangular shadecloth piece blocking the evening sun on west gable end (itÂs stuck up with tape now, but IÂll use Velcro eventually.)

ItÂs hard for me to reach my walls since I filled the benches with prickly plants, so you might consider how your access will change once you have benches and plants moved in. I could reach a side cord to raise and lower shades...but I wouldnÂt be able to push or pull the bottom of a shade without crawling under benches and bonking my head. :-)

I read about someone using vinyl miniblinds inside, and they deformed from the heat. (Aluminum would be better.) I also know (from my house) how quickly mini blinds gather dirt, and they might be hard to clean in a greenhouse that had high moisture levels (algae or other green stuff.)

I like the idea of something that rolls up and down. I hope youÂll post back as your ideas progress!
Sheri

I use roll up shades made of light coloured bamboo in the south facing front wall of my greenhouse. The cheapest version was perfect as they have generous spaces between the bamboo-large enough to let the sun through but close enough to provide shade.
These have worked great for 5 seasons. I roll them down around early May and roll them up when I do a fall cleaning of the GH in early Oct.
The strings that roll them up disintegrated the first summer from the sun, but the strings that hold the bamboo together has never shown signs of wear. Must be a different material. So I just hand roll them and tie them up with a bit of garden string in the fall.
Here's a photo of the front of greenhouse with the shades down for the summer. Notice how you can see right thru them?

{{gwi:307460}}

I have used a gossamer thin row cover material tacked up over the glass roof in summers before but didn't bother this year and would like to order some Aluminet material for next year.

That is SUCH a gorgeous greenhouse...inside too (I admired it in the other thread.) Yowzers! :-)

I am glad to know the bamboo material itself will last that long, I've looked at that in stores.

I'd never seen Aluminet in person until I ordered it. I have been really pleased with how easy it is to work with. It doesn't unravel when you cut it, and it's strong (stood up fine to being stretched in screens.) Very lightweight too. I have read you can sew it with a machine (zig zag stitch is supposed to be good for maintaining the stretchiness of the material.) So far I've just sewn it by hand with a big plastic needle and nylon thread.

Since I live in a hot climate with full sun, I figured the heat-reflecting quality would help me. I think it's pretty cool stuff.

Mudhouse-Where are you ordering Aluminet from?

I ordered it from IGC, partly because they had the shortest shipping time I found (and I wanted to get it up before I moved in my plants.)

You can order it bound on the edges with grommets, but I ordered mine raw because I knew I wanted to cut it up for screens and other ideas. I chose 40% for my cacti and succulents, but I suspect most folks order at least 50% (I may wish I had too, come next summer.)

Also, it stretches much more in one direction than the other. If it matters to you (depending on your plans for it) you might call your order in to specify which way you want the piece to stretch. For example, some people here have used it on the outside of the greenhouse, and oriented it so the roof vent windows can still open under the shadecloth, since it stretches. Birdwidow has mentioned this in her posts.

Yes, I did, and was glad to learn of the stretchability before I ordered mine, also from ICG. By making sure the stretchy part ran from top to bottom, the roof vents opened under the aluminet with no problem, even with the shadecloth pulled fairly taught.

But I was concerrned that the corners of vents might eventually tear into the shadecloth, so I padded them with small pieces of adhesieve backed white foam. They don't really show against the white enamel of the GH frame and do do soften those corners.

The aluminet also served as an effective insect screen, which was a hoot, as my husband had made nice screens for the vents. Now, the screens serve to hold addidtional bubble wrap up against the closed vents. Live and learn.

Thanks for all the information. You guys are awesome. I am going to check 2nd hand stores ect. to find roller shades the size of sliding glass doors and see what I can construct.

I really appreciate knowing the Aluminet is light weight, that will help in the type of rolling mechanism I can use.

Tj

Wyndyacre,

Can you repost your link to the photos? I'd love to see your bamboo shades, but the link only took me to the Photobucket homepage.

Thanks!

-Nancy

Nevermind, I found the other thread w/the embedded pictures :-)

Nice!

Here is a link that might be useful: Some Greenhouse Photos