shade cloth question

Discussion in 'Maples' started by PoorOwner, Jun 14, 2005.

  1. PoorOwner

    PoorOwner Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Northern CA
    I have a few maples that are 1 gallon sized, they have few leaves that perhaps full sun exposure would be a risky thing to do.

    In nurseries they all have shade clothes overhead. I am running out of dappled shade to place the younger maples, I am thinking of adding some artificial overhead shade so I can place some plants on my hot patio.

    The only shade cloth I have found so far is from home depot which claims up to 75% shade.. Seems like a bit too much. What is the optimal amount of shade for my climate to grow maples?

    Do maples respond to intensity x duration of sunlight? Would having filter light most of the day be better than having direct morning sun and solid afternoon shade? That's what I want to know. We don't get much clouds here and even the direct sun at 9am feels pretty warm.
     
  2. Elmore

    Elmore Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    North Alabama USA
    You ought to do a google search on "shade cloth". Before I did this search I was thinking about 48% sounds about right. I am not sure what is optimal. If I find out I'll let you know. I think 75% is too much. Here is a link from my brief google search. Let us know what you find out.
    https://www.sundancesupply.com/FAQShade.html
     
  3. Layne Uyeno

    Layne Uyeno Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Hi Poor,

    Shade cloth is a good option for your more shade maples if you're running out of places. I too was looking around and saw the HD shade cloth....they also have the same thing at Anawalt and OSH too. 75% does seem a bit much, but if you do get this one your maples will be fine. At my last place my north-facing balcony never really got much direct sun...only sunlight bounced off the apartment building next door. I'm guessing they got less light than what they would've gotten if placed under a 75% shade cloth with full sun exposure. They all did well, just that their coloring wasn't typical or optimal. My Shindeshojo stayed medium green rather than getting that slightly reddish tone in sun. The Mystery Maple's leaf edges and petioles faded from red to green. The Tamahime didn't have the typical red petioles either. But, all the maples were healthy.

    I bought my shade cloth online at:

    www.igcusa.com

    I ordered their 50% white standard bulk shade cloth. They charge per lineal foot, not square foot. These don't have stitched edges or grommets. But that's okay for me. They do sell standard and custom fabricated shade cloth with stitching and grommets too. My idea was to build a frame out of 3/4" pvc. The base would be made from 1 1/2" or 2" pvc and filled with shot to weigh it down. I was going to attach the cloth to the frame with plastic tie wraps, but ended up buying these plastic snap clamps from Peaceful Valley figuring they would be easier to take off and on:

    http://www.groworganic.com/item_SER262_RowcoverSnapClamps34.html?pMode=HiRes

    In the end I didn't use the shade cloth as my maples have adjusted better than I expected at my new place (they now get direct sun from about 12:30p till about 6:00p). A couple smaller shade maples are kept under a taller Bloogood. Only one, the Umegae, is showing signs of leaf tip burn and is greening up.

    I think if you're placing your maples in an area with full sun exposure around 50% shade cloth is about right for most maples. You may need a thicker cloth if you have the more delicate Acer Shirasawanums.

    Hope this helps,

    Layne

    ps, usual disclaimers apply.
     
  4. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Most nurseries are using a 50% shade. Ideally,
    for most locations in California, other than the
    warmest regions, a 25-35% shade will work best
    for Japanese, Full Moon, Trident, Shirasawanum
    and Sieboldianum Maples.

    Retail nurseries want the shade so that the Maples
    will not sunburn which will affect how fast the
    plants are moved out the door. Warm winds can
    still scorch the Maples under shade cloth but in
    most areas the hot winds are not a big problem.
    What many people here attribute to leaf scorch
    generally is salt burn instead originating from our
    water, fertilizers and from our soil mixes combined
    with not enough applied water.

    As long as we have ample water, usually sprinkler
    applied water in most saran houses then we do not
    have to worry so much about leaf scorch. We can
    still get salt burn however. It is having the plant out
    in the open, fully exposed to the elements that we
    then have some concern about scorching.

    Morning sun with afternoon shade will in most
    Maples produce better Summer and Fall color
    than dappled shade will throughout a growing
    season. Where shade cloth really comes in
    handy is to preserve Fall colors here. Once the
    Maple starts to turn color the leaves will retain
    their color longer under 50% shade than they
    will out in direct sun (not always true in all
    locations as the San Francisco Bay area and
    other coastal and inland coastal regions do not
    have to have shade and is probably better if they
    don't as opposed to us here in the San Joaquin
    Valley (essentially Redding to Bakersfield).
    The cooler than us areas such as Mendocino
    along the coast will not want to have their
    Maples in a saran house but outside instead as
    they will get more intensity of the Fall colors
    than we will get here. Their day temperatures
    are equal to our low temperatures during the
    day in the Fall and yes, Fall color is directly
    related to temperature. The lower the day
    temperatures along with nighttime cooling
    with adequate sunlight the better the Fall
    color will be here in California. With some
    areas of Southern California having median
    day temperatures almost the same as their
    low temperatures at night it does not matter
    how much sunlight they get there as it is the
    temperature fluctuations between the highs
    and the low daily temperatures that will aid
    in triggering the Fall colors to come about.

    As far as shade cloth for a patio in Livermore
    it is fine to protect the Maples from the intense
    sun but at the same time we risk not seeing the
    true colors of the Maple throughout the year.
    Many people do not realize that when Maples
    come into a retail nursery and are then placed
    in shaded area or in a 50% shade cloth area
    that the Maples came from somewhere else
    that probably grew these plants in full sun.
    Then when moved into shade we can protect
    the coloring already on the plants and the
    condition of the plants as they come in but
    during the growing season left in the shaded
    area or the shade cloth covered areas we will
    not see the truer colors of the Maples during
    the Summer and then in the Fall. We also,
    grown in most areas of California, will not
    see nearly as much of the late flush of new
    growth grown in shaded conditions as opposed
    to growing the plants out in the open. So much
    depends on what we want the Maple to look
    like during the growing year.

    For most homeowners it is not advisable to
    place our Maples in deep shade once we have
    them. If we leave the Maples in deep shade
    too long we will lose the plants over time due
    to us not giving the plant enough sunlight to
    sustain its normal chemical processes it needs
    to carry on life. We actually stunt the plants
    big time when we leave them in shade too long.
    Too long will be determined by the plant showing
    signs of twig and branch die back from lack of
    growth and almost certain death within 2 years
    here if left untreated. The affects can look just
    like Verticillium and the pathogen has been
    subsequently blamed many times for our mistakes
    that we made. I've seen too many Maples die out
    just because the homeowner wanted to give their
    Maples complete sun and wind protection. When
    this condition is sustained for too long a period
    the plant shuts down and will perish on us which
    is why we tried to limit the time the Maple was
    grown continually under shade cloth for no more
    than 5 years. From then on it gets some direct sun,
    no matter what the Maple is and how much it may
    balk at our intensity of sunlight and heat here.

    The easy part is to go out and buy Maples to have
    and enjoy. The hard part is what to do and what
    not to do with them once we have them.

    Jim
     
  5. hi jim,

    I've been growing japanese maples here in Los Angeles, and been doing extensive research as to how to grow them here in LA. It is a little bit more difficult and challenging but can be done. I must say that your advice and practical knowledge on this topic is highly appreciated and very helpful to me. Thanks so much!

    Mike
     
  6. Ralph Walton

    Ralph Walton Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Denman Island,BC
    Most growers love to talk, particularly on a weekday morning when business may be a bit slow. I find it helpful to speak to a local to get to the specifics. The problem is to make sure you have the same eventual goal, as a plant bound for the market is not necessarily going to be treated as you would treat a "keeper". An example in my own qrowing: in our grape vine nursery mother block, we are actually growing wood (for cuttings) not grapes and someone copying my cultural and pruning practices might find their grape production for wine or eating quite disappionting.

    Ralph
     
  7. kbguess

    kbguess Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Location:
    Iowa City, IA
    Three posts in 3 forums... this ought to bring out the moderators
     
  8. Derek91

    Derek91 Member

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    Location:
    Atlanta, Ga US
    As far as purchasing a shade cloth. I just bought a 26x50 50% shade cloth off eBay that was a fraction of the price that I could find anywhere else.might want to check there
     
  9. Derek91

    Derek91 Member

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    Location:
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    Should have looked at the date on this one
     

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