Now that I am on the page with the solar blanket, here are some pictures of the material.




orchid GH

Very clear, thank you!

So are the solar pool covers just one BIG sheet of material?? I saw one on the site that was 20x40. My GH is 12x20...would it cover running it with the 40' going down the sides?? My cover will not make it through another winter...in fact it is such a mess that the heaters couldn't keep up with the hard freezes we've already had.. IF I'm gonna have a GH next winter, need to come up with a solution that won't cost me a month's worth of dog food and grocery money

Do you leave that covering on year round Ken? Is the solar blanket the same as bubblewrap?

Ginger, my GH is 10'x12' and the solar blanket material that covers two sides and the roof measured approximately 22'x12'. In other words it took a 22' long piece to cover that expanse. I would think that a 20'x40' piece would easily cover yours and probably leave enough to cover another side. But don't trust me to be correct, take your own measurements. Karen says her solar blanket material has lasted 10 years and still looks fine.

David, yes the solar blanket material looks like bubble-wrap (see my previous pics) but is way heavier (20x?) and is UV resistant. I have only had my material covering my two GH's since November, so time will tell whether I leave it as-is year-round. If I understand Karen correctly, she leaves hers' on year-round and it has lasted ten years.

Thanks, Ken

That would make me claustrophobic in Summer here though, or at least I would feel like my plants would. Open vents and fans for me in summer, and of course the shade cloths over the south side.

Other than small plants being started from plugs or seedlings, my "Everything Else" GH is pretty much empty from April until November. The only plants in my "Orchid" GH are those "baby" ones, in 2" and 3" pots. Everything else will be outside, under oak trees. I am hopeful that the aluminized solar blanket over the "Orchid" GH will suffice as a shade cloth, but only time will tell. Because of the semi-transparency of the polycarbonate panels that comprise my "Orchid" GH, you couldn't see out anyway. So whether there is solar blanket material over it or not, really makes no difference. The solar blanket lets in lots of diffused light, so it is about as light in my GH's as it was without that material wrapping them. If you decide on trying this material, and now you know it comes in clear and aluminized (though both are labeled "clear", very confusing), if you go with the clear, non-aluminized type, I can promise you it will be as bright with it on as with it off. It appears to let in 100% of the available light, just like the clear polycarbonate does. If you needed a shade cloth before, you will definitely need one as before.

First & foremost I want to Thank Everyone for a extremely nice welcome!!!
What a nice community. People actually communicate here...refreshing

Let me see if I can do some followup here. I will create a separate thread for Shrink Wrap or an article??
Ken the pics are perfect that is the material. Our cover is around 10+ years old+/- and we remove in April or so and it goes back on in November. We roll it with a piece of plumbing pipe in the middle and suspend it in the Garage..can't get much simpler than that. Similar to how one would hang a bike! That said it is a hot garage and SC just seem to be almost indestructible. It performs year after year like it is it's first.

Our cover does not go all the way to the bottom..You might ask why?? Fair question we deliberated that and I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong answer here. One this product is heavy. Two if we are having a really nasty spring we leave the cover on. We will roll up the side of the SW allowing more air etc. Yes SW is that fluid!! The SC is almost 18" from the ground on the sides, the ends are to the ground. The method below has worked very well over the years.
Dave a little food for thought, you could buy insulation sheets to go around the outside of your gh White side facing out shiny side in & over lap the SC over this. Cut them in half length wise so you have roughly a 2' wall of cold barrier. We do this in reverse on the inside to block the 2' freeze zone in a gh. You know what I'm referring to?

Vents.....This temp house does not have vents. It is sealed SW No air penetration or ventilation. That said..we open the door keep & fan running on hot days..and all is good. Having zero air leaking in is something we have never experience in a gh till we started using the SW!!! Our permanent GH leaks air like crazy.

Ok I will add one photo of it



I think as Ken put it best this product has an endless amount of uses. I will in the next year or so skin our permanent GH in it. Have not quite figured this out yet...but we are going to give that some thought.
Holding it on? We string rope over the gh in a zig zag patter anchored with cement blocks, holds like a charm. The winter of 11 we had a foot of snow..no issues with the structure..no power...well that was a different story

Karen, is your solar blanket material clear or aluminized? Where do you buy your shrink-wrap?

So, Solar Covering is different than the bubble wrap some have put inside using clips?

Ken non aluminium & I'm happy with it. Now if this was up during a Texas summer there might be a notable difference in light and burring. In the winter when we primarily use this we are good with clear. Let me check where I bought it. Give me a day or so. Each cover we weld together is in user for about 5-7 years. I roll lasts forever.

Shady yes it is different...completely different product.

Cheryl, I don't know the answer to that question. I use bubble-wrap when shipping out my plants. It is absolutely nothing like the solar blanket material I used to wrap the GH's. 16 mil is so thick it resembles nothing commonly seen - not garbage bags (1 mil), not contractor bags (3 mil), not compactor bags (4 mil), not typical bubble-wrap (1 mil). Just imagine the difference in weight between this solar material and ordinary bubble-wrap. I don't use those clips and don't really have a clue what they are or how they work.

This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread.. We are having very low wind chills ( 0 - 1 ) for almost the next 48 hours. Our actual low will only be around 17 degrees. With some lovely participation on top of it. This is a tight structure, but we will see. At this writing we are holding in the 40's. I don't fret if temps are in the upper 20's for a short period..but it is those extended periods that do the damage.

Update this morning.... GH held at 34.8....more than happy with this all things considered

Ken, here is the discussion about bubble wrap (and clips)
The thread "clips for bubble wrap" in Greenhouses forum

Thanks, Cheryl, I will check it out.

Karen, you must be growing non-tropical plants to allow your GH temperature to get so low. I am afraid the vast majority of my plants would not survive those low temperatures, other than for brief spells.

This house is filled with brugmansias & plumerias. Temps that low are ok for several hours just not for extended periods of time. That is how I keep the houses & have for decades. Might seem scary for some but here is the key..they are not exposed. Know lots of collectors that house in this manner. If this was an orchid house well...would take a much different approach. We burm around 80 plumerias in the center of this house & yet to have Cain or tip damage. If we dip to the lower 20's we are In trouble...then we go to an additional back up heating plan! We have a climate controlled storage building at our home & in worse case scenario we can within about 20min of work move the plumerias in there.

The '11 snow storm & ensuing power outages devastated one of our houses. One dipped into the mid teens & stayed there for days. The other we had back up fuel, fortunately the plumerias for the most part were in there. A few in the other...went to mush & later sprang back from their roots. In the 70's we had this happen & there is nothing like cleaning up that devastation. The emotional stuff one goes through just sets one back. We are fortunate living in a part of the us that extended below freezing temps are just not the norm. Yes it freezes. It is currently snowing out there, but it does not stay like this for days or weeks on end.

As a young teen having a GH changed the course of my life...kept me for getting in trouble...drugs etc., & in the 70's drugs were just part if our culture. As an adult I joke that is was a city kids 4H program LOL

Karen, during the winter months, 2011, I had 90% of my plumeria stored in my (unheated garage) and in the attic, lying on top of my central-heat duct-work. I had a handful stored in the house, in a garbage bag in a closet. I lost 100% of those in the garage and attic. We were below freezing for three days here, with lows in the low-teens and highs in the low to mid-20's. I swore that would never happen again. All my plumeria are now in bags and in a closet.

My 400-500 orchid plants would probably all be dead by now if I did not keep the GH's at or above 55 F. My "orchid" GH usually stays at or above 60 as long as the outside temperature does not stay in the lower teens or upper single digits for too long. This has been a tough winter for me and my electric bills will show that.

Don't forget that I and others are waiting for a full description of where you get the shrink wrap, its specifications, and how you use it. Thanks.

Garage & attic storage is dangerous!! That I have never done. Wow I'm sorry for you it hurts...and then hurts some more... A friend of mine stores her plumeria collection in a commercial climate controlled company & has had no problems. She stored her first winter in N.Texas in a garage & had a huge collection & her losses were enormous. Without a doubt your orchids would be mush!! I have to go to our storage unit & get the label off the box. My BF Mom..that is like my Mom..Anne .is '94 her dog had become incontinent & had to become an outside dog full time. Ok this is a Great Pyrenees, Suzie. But still she is 14. The heat is more of an issue than the cold. We took a covered section of her patio & enclosed it with a SW structure. Put a small ac/heat system in it for her & this place is super neat. When Suzie time with us is over Anne will have a little GH/solarium. I will go back through my mail & see if I can get an addy. & spy tart a new thread with pics step by step etc.
it is nice meeting & chatting with you Ken