is it absolutely essential? the room is 1 wall concrete, 2 walls wood, and 1 wall is a flat white painted door. its verrrrry tiny and the lights will be right on it. maybe just some foil on the opposite side of the light to reflect back some light?
Well considering that the white mylar can increase the light reflectivness in the room without causing burning to the plants. YOu can stand to increase you yield by nearly 1/2 ! Which is probably cheaper than upgrading your lighting and stuff....
since you were talking about reflective surfaces.. I ve heard of tin foil so many times with diferent answers.. some one told me the leaves got burnt by the foil and then some one else told me that it worked wonders for the lower leafs..(also would it be a good idea to cover your top of the soil with tin foil so the light from above reflects into the inner bottom leafs)
Foil is reflective, but it is better at reflecting heat than light. That's why it's used for cooking and why it can cause hot spots that can burn your plant. Flat bright white actually reflects light better. Using reflective surfaces is all about delivering light to your plants. Hard to say how "important" they are, relative to what? Put it this way: the more light your plants get the better, and now matter how strong your grow light you will deliver more light to your plant from those lights with reflective surfaces than without. If you are going to the trouble and expense of growing then you want to maximize your yield and should use reflective surfaces. Just paint the walls flat bright white or get pieces of cardboard, paint them and put them on the walls.
has anyone had any luck with thin, white poster board? im a little worried about the foil i might try the mylar type gift wrapping paper. that or poster board.
you can use the dull side of aluinum foil as well the dull side wont cause the refraction burns but if you turn it on the shiny side it will. if youre tryng the posterboard and it it doesnt work out you can staple it to the poster if it does work out congrats.
i was thinking about getting a piece of cardboard and covering it with either aluminum foil or that reflective gift wrapping paper, then cutting a long indent in it so i could slide it on top of pot/soil and under the leaves (indent for the stem) so it would essentially reflect light up the plant from below. think this would work or does the soil need to "breathe"?
lol it's not like mylar is expensive dude i'd definately open up your wallet and shell out it'll be well worth it
No, a mirror actually absorbs a lot of light and is less reflective than flat white paint. That is why people here keep saying that the thing to do is get flat white paint. Not mirrors, not foil. Period. Or you could go with mylar, but the paint is easier to get and usually less money.
The SunFilm by Sunlight Supply co. Is Cheap sh$t!! That metalized polyester film is Junk!! It wore away too easily! Brown and cloudy spots from moisture.
Few ?'s. Is the concrete and walls going to need primer first? What would you guesstimate the area of the grow area is?