I installed 30% shade cloth over my tomato patch in 2013. I read about some university studies done in Arizona and Florida using different percentage coverings and the results they got. They found that 30% was the magic number...any higher affected production and any lower did not give the best protection. The day I put it up I recorded an immediate 10 degree difference in air temperature under the cloth. I would not be without it here in Albuquerque, NM.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing! That's really cool to hear

I live in Central Florida 9B I totally get the shade cloth idea. Glad to see it popping up on KZread. Thank you for your lovely videos. Cheers.

Last summer I put up 40% shade cloth here in Texas. My plants still burned up. This summer I got 90% and put it up. It's just over the top of my herb garden mostly. It is working great and the plants are still looking good even in 110 temps. I think it depends on what plants you are trying to protect.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

We find the issue with 90 shade cloth is it will stunt the vegetable plants due to a lack of light. Instead we use 40 so they get maximum sunlight for photosynthesis and water heavily and deeply and mulch.

@mikeymo4

Жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany Connie, don't listen to these people. they think that the entire world is like San Diego. they don't even know what hot is. i'm in arizona and have used 90% cloth to work wonders on my tomatoes for years. imagine not even having the open mindedness to think about gardening outside San Diego, a place where's its perfect all year round.

@Anne--Marie

3 ай бұрын

I'm in central Florida and have been thinking about using 70% shade cloth to extend my tomato season. What do you think?

@conniedavidson1807

3 ай бұрын

@@Anne--Marie This year I'm using 90% on one bed and 70% on another. Our heat is too hot in TX to use 40%. Our temps reach up to 115 sometimes. I'm guessing 70% would be fine.

@conniedavidson1807

3 ай бұрын

@@mikeymo4 I keep mine alive last year because I used 90%. My garden would have burned up without it.

You could use shower curtain hooks to attach to the cloth to the pvc. Anchor the edge rings with wire to the rebar. During high winds just undo one side and slide it over the top, leaving it attached Thanks for the upload

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

Love that idea!

I love my shade cloth you sent me during covid. It has lasted here in Ramona.

I use 60% shade cloth yesterday was 113 and it's going to get hotter as summer goes on but my tomatoes peppers squash it's all looking really good I've used shade cloth for several years.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Makes a big difference.

Perfect Timing! I received my shade cloth from SDS TODAY!

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Let us know how it goes!

Growing up in the early 60's in Encinitas, it seemed like everyone had a lathe house. I think 50 percent shade. I always thought that they brought certain charm. Thanks Paul.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, they're super cool! Thanks for sharing that local knowledge!

@saddammall3337

Жыл бұрын

​@@SanDiegoSeedCompanynice video...im from namibia /rehoboth.we get beyond heat in the summer...wonderd about tomatoes under shade net...just needed this confermation so thanx👍

I recently watched great a great video the guys said a lot of the veggies originally came from like forest areas with lots of shade, living below canopys, like cucumbers, tomato plants, squash beans think about that and you will understand more I have all my seedlings covered with burlap or sunscreen i used what i had on hand its 106 today

I also love hanging out under the shade cloth in my garden. Temperatures can be 10 degrees or more lower under the shade cloth.

I have a new mango tree and I'm in lake elsinore and its got some very crunchy leaves that look like they got some heat scorch last week on a couple of the hot days. It came from puerto rico and i think its got a bit of shock from being uprooted and shipped in a box and then being in a different climate where its been cold and damp some days with sprinkling rain and then 85 with high uv for a couple days and strong winds. I think its gonna pull through but i think the one thing it's going to need is shade cloth. So the one video I immediately remembered with all the info on percentages of shade cloth and what not was yours. So I found it and here I am. I always find you to be very informative on any subject you're talking about it. Also you're very close to my area so I know all the info you have applies to my grow zone as well. Not only my mango need that shade cloth but my melons really do. All my watermelons keot getting soft and mushy in the heat. My tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants all rxperienced sun burn on the actual vegetables. Not every single one but quite a few. So yeah gotta get some shade cloth this year. I think it will make a big difference. One more thought, you guys should get a mango tree and do some updates on it to show how to grow mangoes in our zones. They can grow here and mine are doing okay but it would be so awesome to have a channel in this zone that shows how to do it. I know you've discussed avocados and their needs and how they can be a bit finicky and sensitive. But mangoes can be like that as well.

I just put some up last week hoping to save my tomatoes and peppers. I live in HOT riverside county and the sun and heat cook my plants if I don’t shade them. I just ordered some more as I didn’t have quite enough and I can see what a difference it makes. I watch everyone of your videos because your conditions are the same as mine, just about an hour away. Thanks for your ideas and educational topics.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Riverside is so hot!

@S.Kay.Steffy

2 жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany 🥵🥵🥵. SO true!

Arrrggg. Yes, it's time to put up the shade cloth- that's what the plants are saying even here close to the coast.

im in esco and noticed my tomato leaves are starting to show a little heat stress, which surprised me because its really not that hot, 80's, checked the uv index its very high and expected to be extreme tomorrow. i think ill fashion some kind of shade cloth together, i know its only going to get hotter. perfect timing

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely gotta keep an eye on the UV index! Good call.

I’m outside of Phoenix, and I use 40% over the top of my garden, and 60% on the front side(strongest angle of sun).

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Great to know! Thanks for the tip from the desert :)

I use 70% shade cloth on my greenhouse works fine.

Live in Texas and have a 90% shade block and my tomatoes and other veggies still burned the leaves.

I wish my leaves were that green. Waiting for soil sample to come back

what % shade cloth would you recommend for zone 13?

I can't decide on 30 or 40% Vacaville, CA. Like Sacramento like weather? We are probably 10 degrees hotter there than down there, easy

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

I'd go with the 40%

Hope u enjoy coracorn tulere lake. Abandon the town and let that big beutiful 100 miles of.water.stay

I am in Phoenix AZ and summers here are brutal 115 or more. I have my garden in the black vinyl growers buckets and some others in clay pots. Can I just drape the cloth over the plants or will it weigh them down? I know of no other way to do it as I do not have any of the PVC or anything else and if I did I cannot do anything like that. I just want to grow basil, peppers, tomatoes, Cucumers, and Swiss chard mainly. They are all different heights so I can't figure out how to do this. Do I leave them covered all the time?

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

3 ай бұрын

Even if you put a stake in each pot or every other, that will keep it off your plants

I have a lightweight, white “frost cloth.” Any chance that might work?

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

Different fabric and different purpose.

Dr. Carl Baugh did a lecture in 1988. He talked about the UV rays in the early years of the planet were blocked by a water canopy. The plants on earth grew larger, and live longer. In his lecture he talks about a Japanese business man who converted his basement into an office. Instead of artificial light. He used fiber optic cable. He put a tomato under the light. The plant out grew the tomatoes hehad in full sun in his garden. He decided the fiber optic cable did not transmit the UV light. Which stunted his garden tomatoes.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

The raqia! Yes, very interesting stuff. There are so many cool ways people are growing plants these days, but there's just something special about dirt and sun!

Hawaii is not hot. Never even had 100 degree temperatures. Try going to the South. Depends on where you are but up to 90% in places like Arizona works well.

And also, I put it up on the side of the house which decreases the temperature inside the south facing bedrooms, too. HA!

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Haha. Yes! It's such a handy thing to have.

@sprout001

25 күн бұрын

That's my plan too

I’m curious how far apart are your supports both ways? I want to try to replicate this tunnel at home and I have your shade cloths. Do you know about how long your pvc pieces were…? Are they hard to bend into the curve?

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

No, they bend easily enough (don't get the rigid PVC). They're about six feet apart.

@aimeekitty

2 жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany so if the cloth is 6 x 12’ would there be one in the of the 12’?

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

@@aimeekitty the way we have it, the shade cloth isn't going all the way down to the ground, and the long side is going down the tunnel, not up and over. You can make it taller, shorter, closer, etc. to fit your space.

@aimeekitty

2 жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany Right, I'm wondering though on the long side, do you need another PVC tunnel to support it half way through the 12', or is there just one PVC tunnel at the beginning and end of the 12'.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

@@aimeekitty no, we have supports along the way. You don't want to span 12 feet with just four corners. Six posts (three arches) should be good.

Do the edges of shade cloth have to be hemmed? Or can it be cut to size on site?

@jenicepye2997

Ай бұрын

It can be cut to size on-site.

Tell me about your hat I need it

I'm in sunny Arizona. Would a 50% shade cloth be okay? I noticed yesterday that sooo many things were being air fried because if the heat. I want to make sure I protect my raised bed.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

50% could be a little much (as least where we are). The sun is stronger there, though, so you might want to experiment with a couple different percentages.

@jacobeparsels9251

2 жыл бұрын

I'm in central Cali and a 70% works great for me. Our highest temps are usually around 110 to 115 degrees

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome. Thanks for letting me know! Ramona can break 100, but it's not nearly as hot as that.

@deathdiablo22

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your very fast answers!!! I'll think I'll go with the 70%. My raised bed sits in the middle of my back yard which gets sun exposure for the vast majority of the day.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

@@deathdiablo22 just be aware that 70% shade cloth can cause stunted growth since it blocks out a lot of sunlight. Play around with it and see what works best. For us, we don’t go over 40% for the best uninhibited growth. We water deeply and mulch. That helps

How much temperature does it reduce? Thanks.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

Жыл бұрын

Depends on a lot of factors but the goal of the shade cloth is not to reduce temperature but to reduce the UV light. Kinda like a mild sunscreen for the plants.

"Where did you get that HAT" ? ?

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

A liquor store down the street from my farm.

why not plant native trees in the border rows.

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

We have lots of trees at our urban farm, but we are currently leasing this land.

@Ruben25252

2 жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany ahh I see.

First time I have been taught gardening by a straw hat. HOGWARTS on the farm. 😂

Wouldnt choose cali to farm considering the valley fever and the anti gun and farming people outhere. Used to live south of portervile Oranges everywhere

LOTS OF MULCH, grass, leaves, wood chips, hay - ROOTS COOL IS THE KEY - & plenty of COLD water

@SanDiegoSeedCompany

2 жыл бұрын

Mulch is my BFF! That is all key, and sometimes a little bit of extra protection is needed for optimal conditions.

@colleenavery232

2 жыл бұрын

@@SanDiegoSeedCompany especially w/the economy people seem to skimp on it - just wanted to add that to remind LOVE YOUR VIDS - EXCELLENT CHANNEL!

@lcglazer

4 күн бұрын

I have at least 5 inches of mulch over my crops. Now I need to find out how to get cold water. Water out of my hose is warm/hot. Might need to use ice.

If you actually civered the soil with a living much (cover crop) the crops would be able to resist drought ..... Just saying

Herb farm … oh I get it there’s weed over there .