We finished building this greenhouse a couple of months ago. So proud when we finished! But I can’t keep anything alive in it. It has an aluminum shade cloth on top and on the sides, sun does still get through, and I have a white weed cloth on the bottom, but it still gets way too hot in there. Every plant I put in there just fry’s. I heard painting the outside might help, or more shade cloth. Unfortunately there isn’t any natural shade to help. Please help 🙏🏻 thank you
by New-Juggernaut631
9 Comments
You need to put the shade cloth on the outside, with some space between greenhouse and shade cloth so that heat can radiate away. By putting it inside, the heat is radiating inside the greenhouse.
You also need to add Intake vents and active exhaust fans to push the heat out.
Shade cloth goes on the outside not inside. What % shade cloth is it? Air flow, air exchange and humdity control are needed. Any historical temp/humidity levels?
Ideally the shade cloth should be on the outside if you want to reduce the heat coming in.
I also don’t see any vents in your images, you should have vents up at the roof and low near the ground so the hot air can exhaust out as it rises while bringing in fresh cool air from below. [Here](https://www.bcgreenhouses.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/greenhouse-double-side-vents-jpg.webp) is an [example](https://blog.theenduringgardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/greenhouse-ventialtion-512×522.jpg), different style GH but the principle is the same.
I have a smaller gh with heat problems. There is a vet in the roof but it’s not enough. In the summer, I leave the door open and have a fan running all the time to push the hot air out.
Where’d you get those racks
Thanks for all the tips and help. This thread is awesome
If the shade cloth won’t destroy the surface of the greenhouse, you can strap it directly to the outside.
If you’re worried about it causing damage to the surface, you can build a spacer to attach the shade cloth.
The spacer thing can be complicated depending on how your GH is built, and how bad the wind gets in your area. It might be worth it to just buy a cloth that won’t cause damage if you’re concerned about it.
There was a thread in this subreddit by someone with white shade cloth strapped directly to their outer layer in the last few days. Maybe ask that person where they picked theirs up.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Greenhouses/s/A16TKhvfPt
Adding ventilation will go a long way and is important for the plants, too. I’d add a gravity shutter louver on the bottom of a wall and a fan in the highest place you can. If you don’t have power, there are some ok solar powered ones you can try.
Looks really spacious, how much did it cost without the racks?