Today I have removed the shading from my cool greenhouse at home. Unlike the school greenhouse with it motorised shading, I like most people have two options for my home orchids – shading on all the time or shading off.

This year my shading went on in April (below) but I am now keen to get some of that early autumn light to my plants before the dark days of winter.

You will notice that my greenhouse is a lean too against a west facing wall so people with greenhouses in full sun may need shading for a little longer to avoid very high temperatures (if the sun returns). You will also notice that I have wooden supports for the shading well above the greenhouse, this ensures that the shade has a full cooling effect for our cloud forest cool species inside.