Looking ahead to summer... I need to use some shade cloth and thought I could just put it up inside, between the hoops and the the plastic covering, but recently read that it should be on the outside of a greenhouse. Any thoughts about which works best?

Outside. I tried inside first. Because of the winds in my area, I thought the shadecloth would be safer. But it trapped heat and my greenhouse became an oven, even with the doors and vents open. My new cloth is outside. Hubby and daughter worked hard to come up with a plan to keep the shadecloth on the greenhouse while still allowing the vents to open, even in 70 - 80 mph winds. It dropped the inside temperatures by at least 10*.

Also, look into colors, materials and % coverage. My shadecloth is 50% white - its still very bright but cooler than black or green. Aluminet has a metallic outside - it looks like space blanket.

https://www.greenhousemegastor...

Thanks, Daisy - that's exactly the info I was looking for!

How well is your greenhouse vented? Looks like you have a front door and back door. Any roof vents? I have a back door and front door and one large roof vent. I bought shade cloth when we first built it in 2016, but have never used it, I have one greenhouse fan set up high to keep the air moving in the greenhouse, and another fan set up high exhausting the hotter air out above the back door. (It is one of those floor dryer fans, and it pushes a lot of air.) I also spray the floor down a couple of times a day on very hot days and the evaporation helps to keep the temp down a bit to. I know everyone says to use shade cloth, but I have never done it, and my plants have done well....just my method.

These are the two fans I use:

Thanks, Jim - coincidentally, I've been doing a little googling about shade cloth just this morning and before reading your message had pretty much decided not to go that route after all. I DO need more ventilation in the GH - I'm planning to make some additional openings in the front and back, and possibly the sides - this summer. Roof vents would be better - but I can't see any reasonably simple way to do that. And I've been using a fan, but I think a more powerful one is needed. I've also been planning to keep things wetter during the hot weather, which I think will help... thanks for your input!

It also depends upon what you are growing (I grow mostly orchids and cactus). If I were growing tomatoes, I wouldn't bother with shade cloth.

In California, my greenhouse didn't have shade cloth but there were big trees shading parts of it during the hottest part of the day. The orchids need the shade but the cactus need the sun.

In this greenhouse, there are no trees but the shade cloth is on just the end with the orchids. The greenhouse would stay cooler with shade cloth across the whole length but the cactus wouldn't be as happy.

Two doors, 3 ceiling vents, 3 side vents and a half dozen 6-inch size clip fans. There are misters on the orchid end on a timer set for 2 minutes every hour. On really hot days, I do spray the floor (and everything else including the cactus). If I get desperate, I have a misting fan I can plug in and hook to a water faucet. I live at 5000' in the desert. Its the high desert so no 117* days but its still pretty warm - usually a half dozen days between 100 and 105. My biggest problem is a lack of humidity and wind - my greenhouse is build to withstand 130mph - luckily that hasn't been tested but we did have 95pmh winds right after we built it. Usually the wind is between 40 and 50mph. Even in the greenhouse with misters, the humidity is often about 10% during part of the day. We've had less than 2.5 inches of rain since last March.

Extremes of hot, dry and windy - whew!

Mostly what I grow in mine, other than seedlings that get started indoors, then moved to the GH before planting out, is tomatoes, planted in the ground - and the main reason for that is, other than getting ripe tomatoes earlier, that where my plants always died an early death from some sort of blight or wilt (I never have actually pinned down which it is), under cover they stay healthy up until the time we get hard freezes. They grow extra-tall in the GH, no doubt in part because they aren't diseased, and because they have a longer growing time, but I suspect also because the amount of light they receive is somewhat reduced by the plastic greenhouse film. So I hate to add to that effect by using shade cloth. Most summers here it isn't so much of an issue, last summer was unusually warm - who knows what this year will bring!

Definitely on the outside. Besides all the points made above, having it on the outside allows you to easily remove it (or pull it to one side) during the cooler weather when you want a little more sunlight/heat.

Shade cloth comes in a variety of densities from 10% to 100%. That varies the amount of light that gets thru the cloth. The crops you grow and the climate in your area will determine the density you need. I'm at a high altitude in New Mexico. I grow mostly greens and vegetables and I use 60% shade cloth. Be sure to purchase the correct density for your needs and area.

Having a good fan is very helpful. I've got solar powered greenhouse fans on both of my hoophouses. Between the shade cloth, vents and the fans I can keep my hoop houses between 85-95 degrees most summer days.