Bromeliad Queen wrote "I [would] like to change the roof glass to a darker shade thus avoid using any shade cloth." Please reconsider this drastic step. If you use darker glass suitable for summer orchid growing, many of your plants will not receive sufficient light during the late fall and early winter months. If so, they will not grow and flower as well. In most areas of the US, many orchids, even Phalaenopsis, will thrive without any shading during the darker months of the year. It is much easier to use shading during the summer, than the nearly impossible challenge of finding a practical way to add sufficient additional light to a too dark greenhouse during the winter. The general rule of greenhouse construction is to build a greenhouse for maximum light exposure and then use appropriate shading as required for the latitude, elevation, season, etc., as well as the needs of the plants to be grown. My concern is that you will waste a great deal of money redoing your greenhouse with darker glass and then find your plants languishing due to insufficient light during the winter. Be very cautious before you take such extreme action. Good luck.
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