2017 - Volume #41, Issue #4, Page #23
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Twin-Wall Greenhouse Cover Outperforms Poly
“It gives you a permanent cover in snow and high wind areas as opposed to poly film, which can fail. When that happens, you have a double loss of the greenhouse cover and your plants,” says Michelle Torres, Adaptive Plastics, maker of Solexx.
Solexx has been making the shatterproof material since 1987. It diffuses the light, leaving neither shadow nor sunburned plants. It also does not yellow or lose light transmission with age. The company offers a 10-year warranty, but working life extends well beyond that. Torres recalls a customer stopping by a trade show recently. He had covered his greenhouse with Solexx in 1990.
“He had some panels that showed some degrading, but otherwise it was fine,” she says.
The walls score and cut easily, can be bent around corners up to 90 degrees and over peaks for leakproof seams. It can also be installed vertically or horizontally.
Solexx comes in a 5-mm thickness with a 2.3 R-value and a 3.5-mm thickness with a 2.1 R-value. By comparison, an 8 mm triple wall poly film product has only a 2R value, notes Torres.
“We can sell just the covering or entire kits in 5 different styles,” she says. “Uses include overwintering plants and protecting tender perennials, as well as propagation houses for small growers with roadside stands.”
Kits include benches for potted plants as well as full-length hanging rods.
While pricing varies, Torres gives an existing 8 by 12 by 8-ft. high greenhouse as an example. She estimates it would need about 120 linear feet of Solexx and would cost about $800. Greenhouse kits come in a variety of shapes and size from 8 by 8 by 8 on up.
Commercial growers are invited to visit www.AdaptivePlastics.com, maker of Solexx, for products designed for larger growers.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Adaptive Plastics, Inc., 3740 Brooklake Rd. N.E., Salem, Ore. 97303 (ph 877 476-5399 U.S.; 855 949-2963 Canada; info@solexx.com; www.solexx.com).
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