A point regarding reflective surfaces.

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by LBH, Jul 15, 2010.

  1. Totally up for discussion, I'm all about being proved wrong. That's usually when some of the finest learning goes on so let's have at it......

    I was reading last night and came upon something that made total sense considering the goings on in my grow room.

    I've never seen any difference (yield-wise) between side A (mylar) and side B (Old yellow paint, maybe 15 yrs old)

    Last night I learned that once you refract light, the reflected light is 1/143 the strength of the original.

    Is 143rd of a 400w light worth it? Not to me and my rooms have shown me that it's really not even worth the effort, .....although......mylar does make your crop look twice as deep in pictures :D

    Thoughts?
     
  2. This is interesting. In my current grow setup I have 2 walls that are made with white drywall. The other 2 walls are from the original housing but were painted white by the previous owner (5-10 yrs ago max). I am debating whether to cover the room with mylar or not. Based on your number calculations my white wall might not be as good as mylar but it seems like it doesnt make to much of a difference.

    Cant wait to see the results in here!
     
  3. The figure of 1/143rd is inaccurate. Every material will have differing reflective and refractive properties.

    For example, a mirror will out perform mylar, which will out perform a painted wall, which will outperform an unpainted wall, which will outperform black construction paper.

    Basically in order to get a maximum reflective and refractive output you'd want to use a mirror. As to whether it's worth it or not, well, I grow in a room with mylar surrounding the light. It has increased the square footage I have available to grow with reasonable yield.

    Now we can go really deep and start looking at the physics of light and reflection but before we do that let's jsut go over the Cliff's Notes.

    MJ reacts, through photosynthesis, to certain frequencies of light. If you have your MJ surrounded by a material that perfectly reflects those frequencies of light, you've done the best you can.
     
  4. #4 LBH, Jul 15, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 15, 2010
    It was a photography article and the light was being refracted by a lens....:confused_2:

    I just had no idea it loses so much, regardless of the material.

    And what's the basis behind co2? I'm human, I run on oxygen. I have tanks of it in my house for my migraines but I don't grow when I'm breathing it,lol

    Just fuckin' with y'all,......but this is why no one will talk "religion" with me,lmao
     
  5. Refract and reflect aren't the same thing.

    But, to your point, by the time light travels the extra distance from the bulb to the wall, then is reflected back the plant, it has traveled at least twice as far as the light that goes from the bulb directly to the plant, so even at 100% reflectivity (which is impossible) the light benefit would be less than one-fourth.

    I do think it is best to line your grow space to reflect light back to the plants, but I acknowledge that this falls into the category of "it may not help but it certainly doesn't hurt".
     
  6. This is what I was thinking when I said I wanted to Scrog a plant out like a donut and drop a cooltube vertical in the center.
     
  7. I'll talk religion, or the lack thereof (depending on how one feels about it) all day with you dawg ;P
     

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