How to couple shade curtains with open roofs

Q: What are some of my options when using shade curtains with an Open Roof Structure?

James Parris, Southeast Regional Sales Manager for Rough Bros.: Most growers select fabric with a 50-percent shade factor. In this scenario, growers can choose to close the curtain overnight/late afternoon and start building heat for the evenings, when necessary.

This also helps for purging the humidity in the mornings. Growers can simply crack open the curtain around 8 a.m., just as they’re opening the roof, and that will help to get the air to begin mixing a little bit at a time so they won’t shock the plants.

If you find you need to pull the cloth back over to create shade, you won’t have to worry about air flow – as the clear and foil strips are engineered in a way to let the air move throughout them as they’re closed.

For more information on Open Roof Structures, click here.