i grow own veg what best cover shade cloth

[opalred]

am in north and building small house for my vegs i love tomatoes it gets cold winter and bloody hot in dry whats best all year round shade cloth or plastic cheers

[cooked]

I only ever saw plastic. Ideally you should have less shading in winter than in summer, obviously. Some horticulturists have plastic tunnels sprayed with lime or other products that gradually wash off when the rains come.

[samuijimmy]

The green shade cloth is 50 % shade..... which should be OK depending on crop....

Black is 75% shade, but too dark for veggies!

I've never seen Thai's use plastic here in the south, but I think what Cooked says above ^ could be worth a try, especially up north!

It may be a case of experimenting or look out and see what the locals are doing! .... that usually works!

[Gonsalviz]

To hold heat in, heavy plastic is best. If you find some, let me know. Been looking for it before.

The black shade cloth is all the farmers in my area use but only on top.

[Iamemjay]

I too am in the North with what sounds like similar climatic conditions - altitude 500M. I have successfully grown veges (non-traditional Thai - many varieties of green salad crops, beetroot, large (ie decent) tomatoes, beans, Western-style celery, kohlrabi, etc) for years and have never used shadecloth. I grow them organically, but have adapted my practices to take into account the tropical setting.

For example I NEVER grow tomatoes in full sun, despite what the 'experts" say, and I avoid the really hot months for young plants. I always water in the mornings or evenings - never in the middle of the day. The only concession I make is, if I have large and ripening tomatoes in the very hot and dry months, is to cover the bunches of fruit with small handkerchief sized pieces of cotton cloth or cardboard (the inside packing of beer boxes, ripped up is excellent - insert the stems into the slots). My tomatoes get full shade in the morning and afternoon, but full sun in-between.

I have a HUGE crop of tomatoes ripening at the moment - very large fruit. The vines are still growing vigorously and are disease free (I ALWAYS use disease resistant varieties or at the very least, varieties that thrive in hot and dry conditions. At the moment I have Atkinson, Moneymaker and Thessaloniki (Greek). Crop rotation also is essential to counter diseases.

In one local organic farm, they take growing large sized tomatoes a step further. They grow them in the wet season too. They make a "roof" of clear plastic about 2 to 3 metres off the ground - Filters out harmful rays of the sun and helps control the moisture levels - and, when it is really, really wet also use electric fans to circulate air amongst them. Smart - they sell their produce at premium prices when no-one else has tomatoes of any sort. But notice - NO shadecloth.

If I have other areas of partial shade I will use that for my salad greens. Otherwise everything else in full sun.

The other thing I find is that in the main veges will tolerate the heat (or cold) as long as I keep their roots cool (or warm). Hence I mulch my gardens very liberally. I think this is much more important than such measures as shadecloth.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Iamemjay

[rice555]

Hello All, if you are in the CM area, the big ag market should have a shop that sells

rolls of plastic film, CM area has a lot of greenhouses, I have to order white poly

grow bags from CM, you just have to check.

You Can order a roll from www.tctthainet.com or www.hdpenet.com

"""Call""" do not @, if you don't speak Thai, tell and show your other half what YOU

want, with a lot of pictures and have them make the call.

Most of all Thai toms are grown in full sun, you can't do that year round in some

areas.

I feed/water my toms during the day when they are transpiring and are loosing moisture,

it needs to be replaced.

My last OP tom plant is at it's end, but rain and heat do them in fast, this is how I keep

my slicers from sun scald, clip and a piece of shade cloth. better pic's of the PBTD can

be seen on the hydro thread.

Forgot, the two links above are out of Home Ag Magazine, they have adds, they also sell

bug screening, not the blue shit you see every where.

rice555

[opalred]

thanks for replys i love my toms but find toms getting less flavour now and need to try differnt ways to grow all yr around to get flavour back also always eat every day as have been proven to stop prostrate problems in men

now 70plus still no problems

and no problems sex life so want to build a good grow house for more them toms keep me and wife happy

am thinking the green one this area cheers

[rice555]

Here's a place at the CM ag market, this is where I ned to reorder some, so I

had the clipping handy, they only speak Thai!!!! If they have bags that GH use,

they may have or know where you can get it. Most likely you will have to buy a

full roll, The shop I bought at doesn't sell by the M anymore as it sat for a while

without byers.

Two other places to check in CM with a little googling is Take Me Home Tomatoes,

and if thy aren't linked to, Dutch Greenery(or something like that), they do sell GH

supplies, they speak english at both places, but will be at HortaAsia2015 in BKK

threw Sunday, all sorts of GH and ag things, listed up in the pined section under

Ag Shows.

rice555

"If you are using the black polybags of 8" x 13" contact this shop in Chiang Mai,

Issarak-kan-kaset, 053-222012, 053-225432, 053-225433. They sell the white polybags

for 85 Bht. a kilogram."

[rice555]

Hello All, for fastening film or shade cloth, you can use the C-clips as in the 3 pic's

or TCT has wiggle wire channel and wire.

The C-clips come in 1/2", 3/4" and 1".

rice555

[opalred]

thanks for info cheers allan