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Old October 9, 2013   #4
Doug9345
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Durhamville,NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tlintx View Post
Everything decomposes faster in the Texas sun except pine needles. I suspect even real greenhouse film won't last long out there, but I only need it up for a couple of months at a time.

Elliot Coleman suggests this method "moves you 500 miles south" for every layer. I'm assuming this only relates to harsh winter climates.

What's confusing me is that I've read that radiant cooling may remove the heat right away, and that in some tests it ends up actually cooler underneath than ambient. Anecdotal evidence is all over the place, from "30 degrees higher at night" to "a few degrees of protection" to "no difference". And nobody specifies what kind of plastic, they just say "plastic"!

It's an inexpensive experiment, I'm definitely going to try it. Just would like to know where to set my expectations - I'm thinking "a few degrees of protection" is about it.
The only plastic I've ever messed with is covering a plant for frost protection over night. I count on it to give me about 4 degrees for a couple of hours.


I think you are going to find that peoples experiences are all over the place because the variables are all over the place. Humidity, precipitation, wind, altitude, ground moisture and many others. I think the real gain will be from the higher temperatures during the day.
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