Shade Cloth for Orchids

Shade Cloth  -- Orchid house

Shade nets are useful in outdoor and greenhouses; they provide physical protection (birds, insects & excessive radiation) and help protect the plant from excessive heat radiation, sunburns and stress following the radiation.

There are two crucial parameters for shade net. One is the shading factor in % and another is color of shade net

Shading factor

Shade nets are available in various shading factors and higher the shading factor, shade net would block more radiation and would reduce the temperature of air, soil and plant inside the shade house.

Right shading factor for orchids is dependent on the location and elevation of the place. I am using a 50% shading factor cloth blocks 50% of the sunlight.

Recommend using a light meter (available standalone or built in in a camera or an iOS app) to decide whether the shade cloth is providing the right amount of light for the orchid you are growing. Measure the light at same location at various times of the day to decide the amount of sun light it is receiving and then decide on the amount of shade net

Amount of light depends on type of orchid. For e.g. Vanda’s require very high light, followed by Cattleya and dendrobium.

Genera	Foot Candles
Vanda	4000 to 6000 ft-candles
Oncidiums, Dendrobiums and Cattleyas	2000 to 4000 ft-candles
Some Paphs	1500 ft-candles

Color of Shade Net

Shade net is usually made out of UV resistant material and scatters most of the UV light. Shade net that scatters the most of the light but does not alter the spectrum of the light provides the best condition for growth.

Color of shade cloth is an important parameter that needs to be considered for Orchid house

Color	Light Scattering	Heat Generation	Full Spectrum of Colors	Comments
Silver color /Aluminum based	★★★★★	None	★★★★★	Best but not available in India
White	★★★★	None	★★★★★	2nd Best
Red	★★★	★★	★★★	Red light increases larger leaf surface, long and thicker stems and promotes early blooming 2nd Best
Black	None	★★★★★	★★★★	Produces more heat. Not suitable for normal temperatures but could be used in Winter to increase heating
Green	★★★	★★	★★	Green light is not useful to plants
Blue	★★★	★★	★★★	Blue light darkens the foliage and shortens the plant  & delays blooming

Black shade net can be used for growing only vanda genus and vanda’s thrive in black as they like the extra heat generation provided by black.