reflectors

I've been running my little operation minus any sort of reflectors up until this point (like 2.5 weeks since they broke the soil)..does something like tinfoil really help that much? i dont have money for anything else really..dont know how cheap this mylar stuff is but im really quite low on cash for the next month. probably all i can afford is tinfoil. should i paste it all over my walls or what.. i know it could only help..but how much would you say it helps?

what kind of lighting are you using? you could buy a few mylar emergency blankets at like walmart, theyre cheap.

GlassFreak said:

what kind of lighting are you using? you could buy a few mylar emergency blankets at like walmart, theyre cheap.

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reeally..so its like a fabric eh. ok i guess thats an option. thanks

im using cfl's...the twisted fluorescent bulbs

no, theyre the silver looking, plasticy ones, space blankets i guess? they are made of mylar.

the twisty cfls, what watt? they dont throw off too much heat untill you get up to the 42+ watts. if your using lower than that whatever you get will work, with higher watt bulbs foil is bad, it concentrates light into rays that burn the plant.

im honestly too broke for anything other than aluminum foil actually..i just pasted it to 3 sides of my grow closet..how much should it help?

p.s. im using the 42 watt cfl's maxx..not going to go any higher wattage than that. they each put out 2600 lumens anyways so its good. that shouldnt burn the plants eh..?

Glue the foil to a flat(or rigid, at least) surface, shiny side out. It's the best way.

All the crinkles and shit hurt reflectivity. Smooth and polished is best.

You can glue foil to cardboard. There's insufficient heat to cause a fire, usually.

This Mylar® shit is just aluminum metalized to fiberglass(PET). Usually with no coating. It's basically like raw aluminum in terms of durability(for reflectance).

ok i tapes aluminum foil to the walls of the grow closet. can someone tell me how much this actually helps though? like, how much will it amplify the lumens?

white paint is the best way to go about it ifyou can. It is a better light reflector than foil and it can stay on the walls of the closet without looking suspicious when your done with the grow.

the DULL side of foil is the best side to use

Douche Nozzle said:

white paint is the best way to go about it ifyou can. It is a better light reflector than foil and it can stay on the walls of the closet without looking suspicious when your done with the grow.

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its better than foil eh..i just dont have the money though man. aluminum foil is the only option. and i just taped it to the wall, didnt glue it or anything..itll come off easily lol

honestly though can someone tell me how much aluminum will amplify the light? how much will it actually help?

wait, what? the less shiny dull side of the foil is the most reflective? youre serious?

Douche Nozzle said:

white paint is the best way to go about it ifyou can. It is a better light reflector than foil and it can stay on the walls of the closet without looking suspicious when your done with the grow.

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White paint may be best for HID(you'd have to consider distances, most greenhouses use aluminum reflectors that are up to meters away from plant tops, here aluminum is best). For LID aluminum or perhaps silver would be best.

fat sam said:

the DULL side of foil is the best side to use

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That makes no sense.

bmh8938 said:

ok i tapes aluminum foil to the walls of the grow closet. can someone tell me how much this actually helps though? like, how much will it amplify the lumens?

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It's about 90% reflective from 300-700 nm. It doesn't amplify light unless you focus it.

bmh8938 said:

wait, what? the less shiny dull side of the foil is the most reflective? youre serious?

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Some people repeat a lot of things they hear/read repeatedly with out really thinking about any of it....

ok..haha yeah i was gunna say..the dull side?

anyways ive got all the info i need from this thread really. thanks for the help

i think mylar should cost less than tinfoil......at least from the prices ive seen at the stores around here

TeaTreeOil said:

This Mylar® shit is just aluminum metalized to fiberglass(PET). Usually with no coating. It's basically like raw aluminum in terms of durability(for reflectance).

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k, its boPET, and its plastic, not fiberglass... the reason its better than alluminum is because aluminum is usualy used to contain heat, so if you want to over heat your plants go ahead. another reason boPET is better is that its tensil strength is much greater than tin foil, for the amount of a roll of tinfoil you could get 3 boPET space blankets, and guess what, re-use it basically forever!


and it will amplify the light the amount that it reflects on to the plants. if the plants get a full on reflection of a bulb its like a whole other side to the bulb being used.

It's a polymer, which is a glass, it's sewn into clothe.... Thus fiberglass. Google it.

Insulators hold heat better than conductors. You make no sense.

It's(Mylar's) still coated with aluminum which has the same physical properties of aluminum. The thickness of which determines how good it is at reflection. The thicker the better, up to a certain point.

... right... plastic is glass... sure... i guess you know best. i wonder why everyone doesnt use tin foil?

A polymer (from Greek πολύ-ς /poli/ much, many and μέρος /meros/ part) is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties and purposes.
Well-known examples of polymers include plastics and proteins. A simple example is polypropylene. However, polymers are not just limited to having predominantly carbon backbones, elements such as silicon form familiar materials such as silicones, examples being silly putty and waterproof plumbing sealant. The backbone of DNA is in fact based on a phosphodiester bond.
Natural polymer materials such as shellac and amber have been in use for centuries. Biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids play crucial roles in biological processes. A variety of other natural polymers exist, such as cellulose, which is the main constituent of wood and paper.
The list of synthetic polymers includes Bakelite, neoprene, nylon, PVC, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, PVB, silicone, and many more.
Well-known examples of polymers include plastics and proteins. A simple example is polypropylene, whose repeating unit structure is shown at the right. However, polymers are not just limited to having predominantly carbon backbones, elements such as silicon form familiar materials such as silicones, examples being silly putty and waterproof plumbing sealant. The backbone of DNA is in fact based on a phosphodiester bond.
Natural polymer materials such as shellac and amber have been in use for centuries. Biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids play crucial roles in biological processes. A variety of other natural polymers exist, such as cellulose, which is the main constituent of wood and paper.
The list of synthetic polymers includes Bakelite, neoprene, nylon, PVC, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, PVB, silicone, and many more.

maybe you should take your own advice... a 3+$ roll of tin foil that will tear and flake away, or a 75cent mylar space blanket that will last you years... im just trying to get a point across.

lol, fuckin try to tell me plastic is glass. im a fuckin glass blower, the closest thing to plastic i could think of with glass would be borosilicate, its a silicate so its a form of plastic, just a very dense, heat resistant, strong form of plastic, with a higher melting point, that is actually more like glass than a plastic...

and are you saying that if i have a super reflective surface, and then double its thickness, it will make it MORE reflective? THAT doesnt make any sence...