[Pimento]

I'd like to use some recycled Venetian blinds to shade the roof of my greenhouse. Please does anyone have any good ideas about how I can attach them (inside)? Has anyone tried this before, perchance?

I look forward to your ingenious ideas, as always!

Thanks a lot,

Pim.

[sunshineband]

If you have the kind of greenhouse frame you can screw vine eyes, too, you can wire or cable tie the blinds  to these to keep them up

[Pimento]

Thanks! I haven't, unfortunately - but I'm thinking I can maybe bolt small L-shaped brackets to the frame, and then fix the blinds to them... Or something! 😂

[Aidy]

While I admire the recycling of the blinds, surely there is a better/ lighter/ easier way to alter the light in the greenhouse?

Personally I would look for an easier method, recycled scaffold net which is easy to source, very dilute white emulsion paint, buy the greenhouse paint, even use white fleece!
Sorry for being a little negative to your idea but it seems to me more trouble than its worth!

[JayG]

I use saved bubble wrap attached to wires strung along the GH attached to L brackets bolted into the channels using crop-headed bolts.

The wires are 'permanent', the bubble wrap isn't, but can be partly or fully removed and/or rolled up using the ubiquitous sprung clothes pegs. Easy, almost free, and versatile - what more could you possibly want? 

[ghost61]

I use old sheets pegged on to the wire I have across the roof.  Do the same on the sides if the sun is too strong.

[Growster...]

If you have the kind of greenhouse frame you can screw vine eyes, too, you can wire or cable tie the blinds  to these to keep them up

The vine eyes can be used on both aluminium or cedar greenhouse - well the ones I got from Two Wests and Elliott could be. You can either screw them into timber, or 'twist turn' them into the grooves on an ali one. (Beware that the fixing bolts for a Halls type GH are slightly too wide, and need filing down).

My problem with a venetian style blind would be that the toms and cuces have already reached the roof, so would get all tangled up in no time, causing much bad language when I took them down in October...

Like Aidy, we just use debris netting (green), fixed with half a dozen clothes pegs on the outside, and leave a bit of slack for the automatic roof vent. It's worked for twenty years - with the same netting, so I guess we're happy - so far!

[Pimento]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies, folks. Should've explained... This is my second greenhouse and I'm partitioning part of it off to use as a shed/she-shed! So this part won't really be used for growing (apart from maybe a couple of specimen plants) and Venetian blinds will give me maximum flexibility on how much light I want to let in.

[Aidy]

  Should of said 

Any chance of a photo so we can see what the greenhouse etc looks like and then some brains on here might be able to give you a brainwave of an idea.

[Pimento]

Hi Aidy,

The greenhouse is like this - 8 x 10. The far third to half will be used as a potting shed, and the rest (near the doors) will be my reclining/messing about area! 

[Growster...]

Sorry Pim, but it's probably a no no...

Auto-vents will play havoc with the kit, and although I applaud any recycling which you want to do, it ain't going to work, believe me!

Sorry to be so negative - chums here all know me as a chap who says 'yes' (sometimes even some of the girls say so), but a venetian blind in that position just cannot happen! They rely on vertical gravity, and in a slope, unless you have squillions to spend, they'll just be a huge nuisance!

Pop down to the builders merchant, buy a few square yards of debris netting, peg it all up, and believe me, you'll be just fine!

(And sell the venetians on Ebay, they'll probably cover the costs with a bit to spare)!

[Pimento]

Thanks, Growster, but I love a challenge! 😁 I've thought about autovents and simply won't use them on the 'shed' part of the greenhouse. That means I can still have two if I want to. And if I 'attach' the bottom of the blinds behind horizontal canes, I think the mechanism should still work for the roof? For the vertical sides, this won't be an issue, of course. They make Venetian blinds for conservatories - so why shouldn't it work in a greenhouse?

[Growster...]

Thanks, Growster, but I love a challenge! 😁 I've thought about autovents and simply won't use them on the 'shed' part of the greenhouse. That means I can still have two if I want to. And if I 'attach' the bottom of the blinds behind horizontal canes, I think the mechanism should still work for the roof? For the vertical sides, this won't be an issue, of course. They make Venetian blinds for conservatories - so why shouldn't it work in a greenhouse?

Pim, just check that venetian blinds work on a sloping roof, first.

I didn't think they would, because they rely on 'pull' attachments to shadow the slats. We have them here (vertically in our bathroom), and I just can't see how they'd work on a sloping greenhouse (or otherwise) roof.

If I'm wrong, then I'll hold my hand up and buy you a huge glass of vino or three...

(Growsters love a challenge, and always admit they could be wrong).

[Pimento]

Ha ha, Growster!  My blinds have a 'twisty stick' to change the angle of the slats, so I reckoned that'd work ok as long as I can tuck it out of he way when not in use... Will let you know how it goes. Cheers!

[Growster...]

Ha ha, Growster!  My blinds have a 'twisty stick' to change the angle of the slats, so I reckoned that'd work ok as long as I can tuck it out of he way when not in use... Will let you know how it goes. Cheers!

Good on 'yer' Pim, you're one of us!

Let us know how it all works out and the large vino is still awaiting your success!

Bless you, I love reading posts like this, it just makes the world go round that much nicer..;0)