Shade percentage of standard burlap

[sand_tiger86]

I have one layer of burlap across my balcony bars to protect my orchids from about 4-5 hours of late afternoon sun. I was wandering about what percentage of shade does one layer of standard burlap provide? Nothing has burned, and everything seems fine...I'm just wondering if it's too much protection? I do have a fan blowing on them at all times, and the humidity stays around 50-80 percent (just depending)...usually an average of about 65 or 70, I'd say. I'm since nothing is burning, and they don't get a lot of sunlight before these afternoon hours I'm contemplating removing the shade cloth all together and seeing if they'll be alright.

[Janet]

I put one layer of burlap at a 45 degree angle facing south to protect some of my orchids outside and it too works fine.

[coeruleo]

my balcony in los angeles faces south, at the southwest corner. i have put up shade cloth so i get partial sun in the morning, then shaded during the heat of the day, but in winter i would get full sun without the shading. i find some orchids and other plants burn up without the shadecloth, some even get too much light still, because i also get a lot of 'bounce light' reflected off of the neighbor building. this winter i am contemplating adding another layer of shade cloth to prevent some of the yellowing and burning of leaves. not sure where you are, but if i took down my shadecloth, i'd kill all my orchids (like i did when i first moved in and had not put up shade!!). my mokara flowers often, but i have to be careful to prevent it from yellowing on all the leaves. when comparing burlap to the shadecloth, i think burlap has larger openings, and may let even more light through than shadecloth. but your climate and amount of natural sun may be different. you certainly have more humidity than i have here.