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How long should shade cloth last?

I built a shade house about 16-18 months ago:

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About six months ago I started to notice white spots on my plants. I feared the worst and thought I had some type of pest, but closer inspection revealed that it was small pieces of the shade cloth. Unfortunately, it has begun to deteriorate rapidly. It rained pretty heavy yesterday and it looked like snow on the plants.

I know this isn’t a very good picture, but I hope you can see how the shade cloth it coming apart.

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So, is this normal? How long does shade cloth normally last? How tightly should shade cloth be stretched over a frame? I am now wondering if I contributed to this by stretching the shade cloth too tight (hoping to keep it from blowing around in the wind). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Keith
 
How about some nylon screen instead?
(the kind meant for windows and screen doors)
should shade just as well, is quite cheap, and should last a long time..

Scot
 
odd... fiberglass window screen is long lasting but there are size limitations if you are looking for a big area to shade and don't want to deal with multiple pieces. As for the shade cloth I dunno. I have had black greenhouse shade cloth in service for 25yrs+ and while not looking brand new has not begun to break apart from UV exposure. It's not stretched over the greenhouse, just held down on the long sides with cord. I don't think snugging it up to take up the slack would cause the problem you have though.

What kind and where did you get the shade cloth?
 
Scotty - I hadn't really thought of using screen, but don't think it would provide as much shade as I need and as Tony mentions could be hard to cover the area I need.

Tony - Wow, 25+ years... I wasn't expecting that long, but am very disappointed with less than 2 years. As for the type, I really do not know. I bought is a local hardware.... Sounds like I need to do more research to find a better quality product in a month or two when I replace this mess.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Keith
 
I am very disappointed with my first batch of shade cloth. After only 18 months it was falling apart.

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So I went on line and ordered some “newer, better” shade cloth.
Out with the old…
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And in with the new…
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Hopefully this will last much longer and keep everybody happy…
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Very nice Keith, a job well done indeed! Looks like your collection has grown quite nicely as well since last time :)
 
  • #10
Tony; I went with knit high-density polyethylene 50% white shade cloth. I hope this type holds up better... I guess only time will tell.

Yann; thanks for your kind words. I keep telling myself I have to slow down, but there are just too many nice plants out there...
 
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