Shade in the desert

ChristyMC 5/19/2010, 7:11 pm

I live in the desert of SE New Mexico and with temps already reaching the low 90's I am concerned about the sun scorching my poor garden. I was thinking about building some structures to cover my gardens with some shade cloth but I don't know how much light should I be blocking. The shade cloths that I am looking at ordering online vary from 22% all the way to 90%, I know that the 90% is obviously to much, but is 22% enough to protect my beds from the scorching heat of the desert sun when it is over 100 degrees outside? Or should I go with 30-40%? I was going to set up the shade cloth so that it would only shade against the sun during the peak of the afternoon but still allow direct light in morning and evening. Any suggestions?

Chopper 5/20/2010, 4:01 am

That might be a question for an area expert like your local extension agent? Or perhaps the regional forum. My gut says the 30-40% but my gut is notoriously fickle.

TheJH 5/20/2010, 10:00 am

I'm using 60% here in NC for my lettuce beds. I got it up a little late after some 90' plus days we had a few weeks ago. Had much of my lettuce, romaine, buttercrunch, red leaf bolt on me. I just planted some Jericho romaine lettuce that is "bolt resistant". We see how that goes. The best deals I found was from here http://www.gemplers.com/shade-cloth

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Shade in the desert

Shade in the desert

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