Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Hi there Pananep,
SHADE CLOTH GROWING
I used to grow my neps under shade cloth for a couple of years and my observation tells me that it is better (in my tropical climate) to use 50% shade cloth instead of 70%-75% shade cloth for neps.
When I use more shade (70%-75%), the plants are more prone to fungus attack botrytris and rust-spot-fungus. Growth is also slower. At 50% shade the plants are more vigorous and healthy. However, I also cover 3 sides of the shadehouse with the same shade cloth leaving only the entrance wide open.
I realised that if I cover the shadehouse with shade cloth on the sides as well instead of just the top, my neps were seldom attacked by pest. Only once or twice did a locust find its way in and chewed on the leaves.
I will not repeat what everyone says about the pros and cons of growing neps under artificial lights and outdoor, but to me the main difference is light. Nothing beats natural sunlight. Also temperatures at night in my grow chamber and terrarium is warmer compared to plants grown outdoors. I noticed even lowland plants like cooler nights. They seem to be healthier for me. Of course this is just my observation on my plants. It might be due to other factors as well like better air flow for plants grown outdoors.
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Threw away the 75% shade cloth and I am now using 50%, the difference is quite noticeable. I recently moved to a new house, and now have all of my plants growing outdoors. Before, some were windowsill plants and the smaller ones were under artificial light. I used to live in an apartment. Now that I have a back yard I built a makeshift shade house. This I covered with a piece of shade cloth of unknown grade from work. I noticed that my plants slowed down growth and some showed signs of smaller emerging leaves, this is what lead me to being concerned about the grade of the shade cloth I was using. After figuring it out I got hold of 50% shade cloth as fast as I could. Now to let time go by... I'm sure I'll start seeing some good results soon. Thanks David for all the advice.
Later!