hey my grow is well under way and im growing with cfls. however, i want more reflection inside my box and wanted to know if aluminum foil can be use for the walls. i do know they create heat spots and such but didnt know if it would really matter with cfls and flouro's?? andy help would be great.
hey there. i use cfl's also and have some tinfoil up for reflection. it works fine for me. if you were using a 1000 watt hps i could see it burning your plants. you should be o.k. just try not to crinkle it too much as it will reflect light at oblique angles.
I haven't started my grow, but I wouldn't use foil, more people have said its bad, than those who have said to go for it. Follow the pack. If you haven't painted the inside, paint it white, if you want something more reflective then find mylar (its a brand name so you might find the same product under another name) The main reason why people say not to use foil is its 'too' reflective, and the creases cause laser like beams, thats what will cause burning, its not the foil itself, so you may or may not burn your plants or burn a lot, but chances of you burning it with foil are higher than other options. <-- run on sentence, I would have used better grammer but my high school english teacher was a b!@#h, lol.
haha had to laugh about the last part. and yes i understand the it creats hot spots, but im using cfls which are nowhere near as strong as MH/HPS's. so im going to try it out for a few days, see if i get better or worse results. thanks mr echo. btw i cannot paint the inside considering i have clear plastic on the inside and black on the outside of the box.
I actually wasn't thinking about the cfl's that might work out then. They say they're not as intense past a few inches anyhow. What abou the flouro? Are you trying increase lighting without adding more or just maximize the lights you have now?
dont bother with aluminum foil waste of time... no paint how big we talking mylar is great reflective surface but $$... there are certain attic armor out there that have refective backing on them not so bad on the pockets ither... but at the same time u are using CFLs and the reflective light your seeking is not presnt here ... CFL diminish to fast for the plants to benifit from the refelive it would be more efficent to add another CFL rater than spen mony on the side of the grow space....just a thought
Thats why I was asking about if its to increase lighting or just max the current setup. Adding more is probably much better and cheaper but he may be trying to not increase watts or heat, or may not have space available for more lights. @IC1rhinocerous, they are fluoros but compact they're a bit different than normal fluoros, same idea.
hi and thanks everyone, im using tubes and cfl's to clarify. and im trying to provide more light to the dif areas of my plants. I am getting another 6 cfls (27k) trying to find 42 watt bulbs.
As do Target and Walmart now. I've used tinfoil with no negative results, but spend the money for the mylar, it can provide some pretty impressing results. Otherwise flat white paint is a better option than the TF also.
ill have to stop by one like tomorrow. thanks. and yes the foil would just be on the walls to maximize the light that i have including the light i will have. hope that helps.
I use emergency blankets. Their 1.99 and if you are covering a large area its prob way easier and cheaper than using tin foil. I just double line it and its really reflective. Not like mylar but i can't find that local so oh well. Im growing with cfls also
tin foil does not reflect light in the right way, its scatters the light all over the place... mylar bounces the light back as does the White paint option... pus tin foil looks ghetto