When do you remove/put up shade cloth

[Luke308]

I have just done a search for this topic and found 263 posts containing shade cloth Unfortunately I have a busy weekend and dont have the time to search through all those posts in the hope of finding an answer.

I was wondering when to remove shade cloth to allow more light in the colder months? Also when do people put their shade cloth up again?
I live in Adelaide and we have had a week or 2 of 25-29degree days recently, but now the temps are around 17-20degrees and approx 6degrees at night. I am thinking of removing it now, but a friend of mine removed his, and then we had the week and a bit of high 20 degrees and his maple burned and wilted pretty bad.

I am open to any advice, however I would prefer recommendations from people who live in a similar climate to Adelaide (maybe you Western Australians?)

Thanks

Luke

[Bretts]

Just like a soil mix there will be alot of variable answers that can all be correct here.
Several years ago after much research in growing cold climate trees in a hot climate. I constructed my own 50% shade sail that I hooked on over the top of my bench area. First I put it up once the temps started rising above 35 then I started at low thirties.
I generally took it down when I was looking for the cold nights to give me Autumn colour. I have got leaf burn after removing the shade cloth but with many variables I am not sure I can blame the shade cloth removal. I notice this year some interesting colour in my shade house so tend to figure that in the future I will just leave the shade sail up until the leaves start to drop as there is little disadvantage in leaving it up at that time.

Last couple of years we have had very mild Summers here hardly getting over 40 as I remember considering we usually get a fair share of 45 and maybe even a 46
As it was so mild this year I didn't bother putting the shade sail back on after it blew off in a storm a month or so ago. I do have plenty of leaf burn on my hornbeams now but I kind of encouraged that towards the end of the season as the trees where very dense and I wanted the sun to get into the interior for good bud development.

If you are after good leaves for the Autumn display I would not be in any rush to remove the shade cloth. It would be a good idea to have shaded and sunny areas so you can migrate some to full sun if you think it necessary.

[shibui]

I did not put the shade up at all this year. Shade on the igloo (cuttings and propagation area with figs and other tropicals) will be coming off as soon as I can get around to it.
When shade goes up and comes off will vary from year to year depending on temp and strength of the sun. I try to leave it off as long as possible to get good compact growth in spring. Trees drying out during the day and (badly) burnt leaves are probably my cues. I'd probably use shade in Jan, Feb and Mar in a hot year.

[bodhidharma]

It would be a good idea to have shaded and sunny areas so you can migrate some to full sun if you think it necessary.

Bretts, i think, hit it on the head. With a little bit of carrying you can decide what you want out in full sun and probably easier than putting up and taking down Shadeclothe.

[Scott Roxburgh]

Rather than using over head shade, this year I used over head misting in the hot months.

Obviously it wasn't a hot one, but the resulting growth was much tighter on my japanese maples and i think i will continue with just the misting on hot days.

[cre8ivbonsai]

Rather than using over head shade, this year I used over head misting in the hot months.

Obviously it wasn't a hot one, but the resulting growth was much tighter on my japanese maples and i think i will continue with just the misting on hot days.

Hi Scott, so is it really just a myth that "misting under direct full sun can cause leaf burn"? and instead it actually keeps the foliage more hydrated?

[Scott Roxburgh]

I don't know about more hydrated, but I haven't experienced any leaf burn.

[Luke308]

I think it is the salts in our tap water than burns leaves, not so much the suns rays magnified through droplets. Although every book I have read said not to overhead water during the day.

[Scott Roxburgh]

hmmm salts...

Those same books generally tell you to put your trees in part shade too...

I have all my trees in full sun, and haven't had any problems with overhead watering so I'll keep using it. But I'll let you know if it still works after next season...that is, if it is actually hot.