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Edmonton, Canada

I have a garden that is bordered by a 7 foot fence. For a good part of the day, part of the garden is in the shade.

Has anyone ever set up a grow-light outdoors to compensate for the shady areas?

Any ideas?

1/15/2007 10:59:58 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Plant will go for the light without question. So it might even climb the fence to get to it. maybe mirrors?

1/15/2007 11:27:46 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

If this is your only available area to grow them in I would suggest going for panda film which is 6 mil plastic, black on one side with a highly reflective white on the other.
Another product which may work well for you would be rolls of Mylar which is basically a paper thin mirror.
The mylar will not withstand the weather like the Panda film will and will probably only be useful for one season, while you may get several from the Panda Film.

I would also suggest painting that side of the fence with a bright white paint, which will help reflect the suns rays onto the garden.

1/16/2007 7:16:31 AM

ExtremeVegetables.com

If all else fails, tear down the fence. :D

1/16/2007 7:20:55 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Yup. great idea with the white paint!. I have used that for a reflective surface in coral reef propagation. Silver Mylar or aluminum foil if practical and not in this application, does not reflect as much as a flat white surface would. One wants diffused light. And non burning.

1/16/2007 2:37:13 PM

Edmonton, Canada

Hmmm.... good suggestions.... except for maybe tearing down the fence! That damn thing was expensive to put up! :)

Where would I put the panda film or mylar? I could see myself being able to cover my side of the fence in it. I guess it would intensify the sun when it is present, and reflect the sun onto the garden when it is partially on the fence.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

1/16/2007 11:46:52 PM

[email protected]

I've thought about extending daylight with the use of high pressure sodium &/or metal halide lamps. But the cost of the fixtures, the heat they produce, the energy they use & their lack of water resistance would probably render their use impractical.

1/17/2007 12:54:00 AM

Danville, CA ([email protected])

I would be very concerned with the potential for burning with mylar or similar. I much prefer the idea of white paint. I think most of us have walked by a mirror or very reflective piece of outdoor glass on a hot sunny day and noticed the very intense heat that it generated which would likely burn the plant. I think Wiz has the right idea.

1/17/2007 12:49:50 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Painting the fence flat white would be the most cost effective weather proof alternative. I believe reflective and refractive capabilites where 98% vice any mylar numbers....might google it.

1/17/2007 1:22:50 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

I offered the suggestion to use mylar or Panda film against the fence for the simple reason. You did not say wether the fence belonged to yourself or a neighbor. A neighbor may not like you painting their nicely stained wood fence white but may not mind that you attach mylar or panda film to it. ;)
White paint would of course be the most cost effective and longest lasting with Kilz primer being one of your least expensive coatings but actually white roofing paint will be your most reflective.

Mylar used in grow rooms can burn but that is more due to the lighting fixture being in a fixed location and concentrating the reflection in the same spots continuously. The sun is not in a fixed loaction so the chances of the reflection of light burning your plants is a very slim possibility on an extremely sunny day.

Although I have never seen reflectivity of white paint reach the 98% mark I have read several studies which put it in the 85 - 95% range.

The differences in reflectivity between properly installed mylar and white paint are very small. A cheap alternative to mylar would be emergency blankets which can be found in the camping section at most dept. stores and cost @ $2 for a 5' X 8' sheet.

1/17/2007 2:43:41 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

This is a quote from a recent test I've found during a google search:

[quote]As an experiment I used an off the shelf KMART Liteway brand shop light.
These shop lights cost about $11 US for a dual bulb 40 Watt T12 fixture.
I used the same two Philips F40T50U (Daylight) bulbs in this experiment.

I measured the light levels at various points around the light
using a Sub-Lux Light meter. I measured several points around the bulbs,
since one measurement directly underneath the bulbs may not tell the
whole story.

One of my comparisons was between the standard white reflector that
comes with the shop light and regular aluminum foil. For the aluminum foil
case, I just lined the inside of the reflector. I did not bother to
get all the wrinkles out.

****************

What I found is the the aluminum foil covered light fixture had a consistent
10% IMPROVEMENT in measured light levels compared to the off the KMART shelf
white reflector at all the various points measured!!!![/quote]

I hope this has helped.
Good Luck this coming season!

1/17/2007 2:43:56 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

You will find that reflective light from a mirrored surface may burn leaves due to the angles of the light intensity. I have first hand experience and would tear down the neighbors fence.......lol

1/17/2007 3:59:36 PM

[email protected]

If Mylar gets hotter than white paint it is only because it is a superior reflective surface. I don't believe that a white fence would reflect anywhere near enough usable light to benefit the plants.

1/18/2007 12:10:28 AM

Edmonton, Canada

I would love to paint the fence white... but there are restrictions in the subdivision that I live in, and the fence color can't be changed.

Tearing the fence down would make my neighbor very upset. (he helped pay to build it) :)

I may experiment with some sort of Mylar. I will let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for all of the help.

1/19/2007 10:04:56 PM

ExtremeVegetables.com

If I may make anotehr suggestion.
In this case I think Panda film would be your best bet.
One problem with the less expensive 1 mil mylar, is that some brands can loose their backing onto the surfcae it is applied to during high heat and humidity.
In order to avoid having pieces of the mylar backing being stuck to your fence at year end, a good idea may be to apply it to a piece of plywood or something similar and then propping it against or attaching it to the fence.

I don't want you to ruin the look of your new fence and or having to paint it at the end of each season.

GOOD LUCK!!

1/20/2007 5:59:29 AM

How many hours of direct sunlight does the patch get?

We all shoot for "full sun" but that may not really be required to grow something huge if everything else is in place. Bill Foss grew a PB 1213 lb fruit, in a new patch area that got 50% sun as I recall him telling me last fall when he set a new MN state record at Stillwater weighoff.

1/20/2007 7:12:02 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

I was thinking of that Dan. I saw where it was grown, and it looked pretty shaded to me. I would've picked that growing area to grow his smallest pumpkin, based on sunlight availabiliy.

1/20/2007 1:37:44 PM

Edmonton, Canada

I would think that I have about 50% sun. I'm surprised that a 1200 pounder would have anything less than full sun. Maybe there is hope for me yet!

1/20/2007 9:36:19 PM