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shade 30% Percent Shade Cloth Study

MadDog

MadDog

I came across a few weeks ago, I looked around on here and didn't see where anyone had posted this so I thought most would be interested in this...
 
Highlights:
 
Shade cloth shows striking returns
 
Working in the unrelenting climate of south Georgia, Diaz-Perez began to study the performance of bell peppers grown under plastic mulch and black plastic shade cloth in 2007.
 
Initial results were resounding: Plants grown under the shade grew taller, had more leaves and had larger leaves than those in direct sunlight. Both marketable and total yields increased while number of culls decreased dramatically.
 
From 2009 to 2011, Diaz-Perez compared the effects of five different levels of shading on peppers, from zero to 80 percent.
 
In fields on the UGA campus in Tifton, Ga., he discovered that using plastic cloth manufactured to create 30 percent shade actually improved photosynthesis and doubled marketable yield.
 
Read more at http://apps.caes.uga.edu/gafaces/?public=viewStory&pk_id=4416
 
I looked high and low trying to find 30% locally to no avail. Online custom orders were 3 to 4 weeks. I needed (okay wanted) now! The fastest I could find was premade sizes, I grow in a 5' x 10' kennel so I got the 6.5' x 10', it arrived in a few days, and was quality made.
 
http://www.shadeclothstore.com/products/aluminetcoolshade30__aluminetshadecloth.html
 
Hope this helps a few people out!
 
Yep, that study is what convinced me to get the shade cloth. In Florida even lowering the temperature a few degrees with shade, and keeping the brutal direct sun off during the afternoon has been huge. Actually getting bell peppers and tomatoes in the summer has been awesome. Yields on lemon drops have been gigantic compared to last year without the shade.
 
I had a bumper crop in Oklahoma last year in full sun so I'm really excited to compare results this year using aluminet. We're already in the mid 90's.
 
40% shade cloth cooled my greenhouse significatly and of course the plants grew taller because they had less light. As for yield i'm on the fence on that one. The plants out in full sun are in raised beds and produce better than plants in greenhouse in pots. 
 
My chili plants always seem to love the shade or partial shade more than direct sunlight. At least my chinenses do...my annums don't seem all that picky.

The plants always explode in growth and set pods whenever they get a break from blazing sun and hot temperatures. I can't wait to get home from vacation and see how all my babies are doing.
 
My plants grown under the shade of the pool screen, and those grown on the North side of my house, AND those grown under a tree which only allows morning and late afternoon sun, all show dramatic differences in health and yield of any plant that I put under them. I don't really have much temperature difference, but that brutal sun is what seems to be the problem. We don't have a real "autumn" here, so when winter rolls around, and we start to get temps in the low 80's during the day, my plants do well in any part of the yard.

For anyone who ever says that there is no such thing as too much light, I say PFFFT. Clearly you don't have many UV Index 11+ days where you are from. LOL
 
As soon as I put up 40% shade cloth early this summer here in Dallas I saw a dramatic increase in growth of my plants.  Before that the sun was just to brutal and they were getting so hot they would go into survival mode.  Now they only go into survival mode for a few hours at the hottest part of the day and come out of it just about as soon as they go into shade in the evening.
 
Thanks for that info. The sun really punishes plants in Oz making it difficult for chinense to set fruit. Was going to use shade cloth and now I know which one.

I wander if green vs cream cloth makes a difference ? Not sure about you guys but that's the two common choices I have here. Surely the change in spectrum would effect growth performance.

Found this info for anyone interested..

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?/topic/19539-what-colour-shade-cloth-is-best/
 
Mine is black.  Dont think the actual color of the shade cloth changes anything.
 
Nothing helps when the ambient temp is over 95f.  I didnt get pods all summer.  Last week when it cooled off for 4-5 days, I got a ton that set, now its 100 again and im getting nothing but flower drop.  Supposed to rain this weekend and then be in the 80's going forward so im expecting my pod production to go through the roof.
 
Yeah, I've noticed my plants that get full sun all day, and then shade in the late afternoon/evening do amazing. Even in the middle of summer, they seem happy and still produce a ton of pods...but we did get a lot of rain down here this summer.
 
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