hi, i just finished with my grow room all thats left is to buy a light source, i painted my walls white because i could not find and reflective foil and i heard that aluminium foil sucks in more light than reflects, is the white paint a good choice over the aluminum foil? please reply i need your advices
I'm pretty sure aluminum foil doesn't "suck in light" lol..what happens with aluminum foil is some spots will reflect better than other spots, causing hot spots which can cause damage to plants. It's also not very reflective..while a flat white paint is somewhere between 75% - 85% reflective, aluminum foil is only around 50%. Mylar or Foylon are the 2 best reflective materials for growing..white paint or black/white poly would be the second best.
Aluminium is a great reflector. The whole foil hot spot and low reflectivity is total myth. Almost every lamp reflector is made from aluminium
Yeah but the lamp reflectors aren't made out of aluminum foil..there's a difference between a polished aluminum reflector and a roll of aluminum foil. Also I think it might be cheaper to just put up the thermal mylar blankets instead of buying rolls of foil (Unless it's a small area that doesn't need much) 10 mylar blankets for $6.50 -http://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Mylar-Thermal-Blankets-Pack/dp/B000GCRWCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420650261&sr=8-1&keywords=mylar+blankets
Only the thickness, it's still aluminium and very reflective. I'm not recommending foil, just saying there's no danger of hot spots damaging plants and low reflectivity