Shading a vegetable garden

Posted by Robert Brown on June 24, 2012 at 7:26am

  The hot sun is brutaly attacking my tomato plants laden with tomatoes.  Other plants are being effected as well.

I went to Home depot this morning and looked a heavy duty sun screen.  They want $79.00 for 6 x 50' roll.  My garden is onebox 12 x 40 and to cover it all would be real expensive.  I had an idea of making 4 x 6 six frames covered with cloth and and mounting the frames on uprights so that they could be tilted at various angle above the plants depending on need.

Does anyone have a better idea of both the method and material to be more effective and to keeping the cost lower?  Are there not less expensive materials to use for shade?

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Replies

  • Chris K June 24, 2012 at 8:02pm
    Burlap will work and is a whole lot cheaper than the sun shade fabric.
    • Robert Brown > Chris K June 24, 2012 at 10:07pm

      I never thought of that, Chris.  Will it let enough sun light through so that I won't have to keep taking it down?

      I have east to west exposure to the sun over my garden.  If I have the burlap suspended six feet up over the plants and out three from the edge of the row, will that work OK? It would give morning and evening sun and shade from noon till six at night. If so, I can get under it to tend to the plants.

    • Chris K > Robert Brown June 25, 2012 at 6:31am
      Robert, I have used the burlap totes from homdepot ($4) I cut it open and hung it. There are pretty good sized holes so a lot of light still came through although I am sure that not all burlap will have big enough holes.

      IMG_20120625_062834.jpg

    • Robert Brown > Chris K June 25, 2012 at 11:58am

        Thanks for the further info.  I found a place that sell burlap by the roll or in sheets.  It sells for around .29 a yard.  Still heven't gotten any yet.

        You call burlap bags totes.  When I was in N. Carolina, the called the "pokes".

    • erniee85017 > Robert Brown March 6, 2014 at 12:16pm

      where did you find burlap for 29 cents a yard?

    • MaryMcP > erniee85017 April 14, 2014 at 5:27am

      erniee, you need to find a coffee roaster, they will have burlap bags to sell.  I know there is one in Tempe, don't remember the name now though.

    • Catherine, The Herb Lady > MaryMcP April 14, 2014 at 7:33am

      Mary is it Lost Dutchman?

      http://www.lostdutchmanroasters.com/

      Buy Specialty Roasted Coffee From Lost Dutchman Coffee Roasters
      We are a boutiqe coffee roaster in Tempe Arizona offering fresh specialty coffee. Local pickups from Phoenix, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert and othe…
    • MaryMcP > Catherine, The Herb Lady April 14, 2014 at 8:35am

      I don't know Catherine.  Someone else (Jacq I think) was talking about the burlap sacks.  Any coffee roaster should have them available.

    • Catherine, The Herb Lady > MaryMcP April 14, 2014 at 8:47am

      Ah - found Jacq's note "I bought the bags from Momento Coffee Roasters in Tempe. They are only $5 each and they have lots of them."

    • Chris K > Robert Brown June 25, 2012 at 12:04pm
      I call them sacks but @ homedepot they call them totes so that's what I said..

      Untreated burlap sacks (like the ones from a coffee shop) are awesome to compost in too!
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