How to Choose a Greenhouse Covering
Film, PC sheet, insect net and shade net each solve a different problem. Choosing by price alone is the most expensive mistake in a greenhouse project.
Start From What You Are Controlling
A covering is not a roof, it is a control layer. Decide first whether you are controlling temperature, rainfall, light, insects or all four. Insect netting keeps pests out but leaves the inside climate almost identical to outside. Shade net lowers light and temperature. Film keeps rain off and holds heat. PC sheet holds the most heat and lasts longest. Once you know which of those you need, the choice narrows to one or two products.
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Film Greenhouses and Where They Fit
Film is the lowest cost way to get a controlled growing area. Our film greenhouse models are produced in 8.0 m and 9.6 m spans with fixed or openable roof windows, and openable roof houses combine the advantages of a general greenhouse, a shading house and a net house with folding covering material that keeps rain and wind out.
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Cold Climate Sites Need Thermal Mass
A solar greenhouse uses brick or soil walls on three sides to hold heat collected during the day, with the sunny slope covered in film or PC sheet. That heat is released overnight, which is why it is the typical structure in cold climate regions where a plain film house would lose everything after dark.
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Grammage Is the Number That Matters
For netting and films, the weight per square metre tells you more than the price. Our insect netting runs 100 to 130 g/m2, fiberglass mesh 100 to 160 g/m2, tarpaulin 80 to 200 g/m2 and non-woven fabric 17 to 30 g/m2. A cover that is one grade too light is the one that tears at the fixings in the first storm.
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Match the Cover to the Structure at Quotation
Buying a frame from one supplier and a cover from another is where greenhouse projects go wrong. Widths do not line up, fixing channels do not match and the mismatch only becomes visible on site. Ask for the structure and the covering on the same quotation.
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Questions On This Topic
Which cover lasts longest
PC sheet outlasts film in normal service. The trade-off is cost per square metre and the weight the frame has to carry.
Can I use insect net and shade net together
Yes. Many growers run insect net on the sides and vents with shade net over the roof, because the two are controlling different things.
How do I know what grammage I need
Tell us your wind exposure, hail risk and how many seasons you expect from the cover, and we will recommend the grade from our production range.
Still Not Sure Which Item Fits
Describe the site or the shelf and our team will name the items from our catalogue that suit it.