Understand shade cloth & how its colour impacts plants ...

Understand shade cloth & how its colour impacts plants ...

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Shade cloth is used to shield plants from excessive heat from the sun, enhancing light diffusion and providing ventilation.

An important factor when selecting a shade cloth is its colour, as it affects the growth of various plants. Choosing the right shade cloth colour can significantly impact a specific plant. This blog aims to provide insights into shade cloth and how its colour influences different plants.

Things You Need To Know About Shade Cloth

Using shade cloth effectively reduces sunburn for plants by decreasing the amount of radiation reaching them. Shade cloth reflects air and incoming solar radiation, altering the appearance of plants grown under it. Shade-loving plants, in particular, develop larger leaves, become taller, and grow more nodes when shaded. Several factors need consideration when selecting the appropriate shade cloth for your shade house.

What to look for in a shade cloth?

• Fabric material

Shade cloth can be knitted or woven. Knitted shade cloth, made from polyethylene blend, deflects heat and light, is lightweight, and withstands regular wear and tear. Woven shade cloth, made of 100% polypropylene, is suitable for winter use, holding more heat due to its heavier weight.

• Density Percentage

Density percentage is crucial when choosing a shade cloth, depending on the plant type. Here are the density percentages required by some plants:

• 30% - Heat-tolerant plants like peppers, squash, and tomatoes, and flowering plants such as snapdragons, geraniums, and chrysanthemums.

• 40%-50% - Suitable for flowering plants like lilies, caladiums, orchids, azaleas, begonias, and camellias.

• 60% - Best for sensitive plants like lettuce and spinach.

• 70%-90% - Commonly used for ornamental plants such as ferns, palms, anthurium, dracaena, and philodendron.

*Note: The listed plants' examples above don't account for shade cloth colour, please continue reading below.

• Colour

Popular colours for shade cloth include black and green, with other options like white, red, yellow, and blue. Aluminet shade cloth, a reflective metalized HDPE knitted screen, is an alternative to black shade cloth, protecting plants against frost radiation damage and preventing oxidation.

Effects of coloured shade cloth to the plants

Choosing the right shade cloth colour isn't merely about aesthetics; experts suggest that lighter colours can improve ventilation by reflecting more heat from the sun. White shade cloths reduce light quantity without affecting its spectrum, thus promoting faster plant growth compared to green and black shade cloths, making them ideal for flowering plants. Darker shade cloths like green and black absorb the sun's heat, potentially depriving plants of necessary sunlight. Aluminised shade cloth offers additional cooling effects, and colours like red can benefit specific plants by filtering different light wavelengths.

Using coloured shade cloth on selected plants

Studies show that different coloured shade cloths have varied effects on plants:

• Blueberries

Black, grey, red, and white shade cloths (35% and 50% density) were used on highbush blueberry. Black shade cloth reduced PAR (photosynthetic active radiation) by 47%-54%, affecting vegetation growth by increasing internode, leaf, and shoot lengths, and leaf width. Red, grey, and white reduced PAR by 29%-41%, showing minimal effects on internode and shoot lengths but minor effects on vegetative parameters.

• Philodendron

Philodendron's leaf mass remained unaffected under black, blue, grey, and red shade cloths. Red shade cloth produced more leaves, while blue resulted in fewer leaves.

• Peach

Using blue, grey, pearl, red, yellow (30% density), and white shade cloth (12% density) on peach trees increased vegetative growth, irrespective of the shade cloth colour.

• Orchid

Research shows a consistent pattern of enhanced foliage biomass production under blue shade cloth compared to black and red. Green shade cloth, commonly used, generates more heat than white but less than black.

• Cast iron plant

Cast iron plants have more leaves under black shade cloth compared to blue, red, and grey. However, leaf variegation and the percentage of green leaves produced are the same under all colours, with no significant differences in leaf vase life.

• Lettuce

In an experiment using 50% density black, red, and green shade cloth, lettuce had significantly larger length and width under red shading compared to green, with no significant difference under black shade cloth. The largest stem diameter was observed under red shading, indicating red shade cloth's suitability for lettuce.

Conclusion

Shade cloth can profoundly impact plant health, so factors such as fabric material, density percentage, and colour are critical. The right shade cloth colour choice significantly influences plant growth. For high-quality shade cloth that ensures your plants' health and maximum growth, contact a reputable provider offering various shade cloth types. If you need help building a shade structure or shade house, consider purchasing a pre-made shade house for convenience.