Advise on seedling light control please!

[DuaneB]

Hi folks,

first post here, so first of all... Hi!

So I'm in the process of raising some California (Coastal) redwood tree seeds.
Cold/moist stratified in the fridge and sown in cell trays at the first sign of germination.

Around 80 seeds in total with 60 germinating. I'm super happy with this considering they have a notoriously horrific germination rate!
roughly 10 of them died off shortly after germination, which was to be expected, so I have around 50 or so of them doing really well and its coming close to time to prick them out and put them in their new home for the next few years.

Spent the past week or so gradually hardening them off to the elements and they appear to be loving it. They have gotten considerably stronger and are starting to stiffen up to the breeze so overall I'm pretty darn happy with them so far.

Problem I have is, and its my own damn fault for not considering it sooner, I'm totally not prepared to control their lighting conditions outside.

They require partial sun to full shade for the first year/year and a half so I was thinking about ways to limit exposure, especially with the summer sun just around the corner.

I was thinking about using some 1inch diameter PVC piping to create a sort of awning that would stretch horizontally from my decking banister to a garden wall with some sort of light dappling/diffusing material stretched across the frame and secured.

I was thinking standard window netting to create a dappled shade. Does this sound like a good plan? It should shield them from the worst of the sun while still allowing a good deal of light to penetrate I think. Thoughts?

I'm trying to do DIY something here without spending a fortune on materials.

Any tips/suggestions appreciated!

Duane

[applestar]

Sounds like a fun project!

I think window netting is too even and not thick (heavy shade) enough. Remember, these seedlings would be growing on the ground UNDER the mature redwood trees. Depending on how complete the shade should be, I'm thinking either unlined matchstick bamboo shade or the window screen+lattice lath. Snow/sand fence might work.

[DuaneB]

Sounds like a fun project!

I think window netting is too even and not thick (heavy shade) enough. Remember, these seedlings would be growing on the ground UNDER the mature redwood trees. Depending on how complete the shade should be, I'm thinking either unlined matchstick bamboo shade or the window screen+lattice lath. Snow/sand fence might work.

Are we thinking about the same kind of netting?

Here is an example of what I'm talking about... its been rolled out a little so you can see how close knit it is...

https://www.netcurtainsdirect.com/media ... 0116_5.jpg

I could double it over? Or triple if its not enough shade?

I like the idea of the Bamboo shade... but for the area I'm going to have to cover it would be a tad expensive from the prices I've seen online, especially when its only going to be for a year or so and then likely never be used again.