Mirrors?

[SykonoT]

Would mirrors b good as the reflective source?I was thing of buy a few n trying it

[Weedguru Higher]

Reflecting light back towards your plants is always a good idea, however, using mirror is not the best method of doing this. Mirrors are not actually all that reflective, I have heard that mirrors are only about 80% to 85% reflective, also mirrors do not defuse light which can cause "hotspots" You can burn your plants with them. Flat white paint is actually more reflective than mirror and it defuses the light very well.

There are several products on the market that are specifically designed to go in a grow room. The most popular is probably Mylar which is about 95% to 98% reflective. Mylar comes on rolls of 4 feet x 25, 50 or 100 foot in 1 or 2 mil thickness.

Here's the best reflective materials

http://www.weedguru.com/forum/viewtopic ... 88&t=26817

[POTSMURF]

I would reccomend mylar, painting walls white, or google it but I definitely think you can find something cheaper and more efficient than mirrors my friend. PEACE TO ALL

[SykonoT]

Yea j was looking at Mylar its not to expensive when to me when I think of the difference I'll have n my plants

[Weedguru Higher]

Here's the 2 best materials

Foylon:
A more durable version of mylar, made of spun polyester fabric and reinforced with foil laminate. Foylon is resistant to most solutions, won't tear or fade, and can be wiped or washed clean.

A great solution for growers who are interested in long term use, and though it may be slightly more expensive than mylar, its durability will more than make up for its cost. It has the ability to reflect about 95% of the light and approximately 85% of the heat energy, so a good ventilation system should be used in conjunction with folyon.

A recommended method to attach Foylon to the walls would be using Velcro, as it makes taking it down for cleaning much easier nd reduces the risk of tearing, creasing or bending it. If this is used for your walls, making sure you get it flush with the wall with no pockets of air between it and the wall to prevent hotspots.



Mylar:
A highly reflective polyester film that comes in varying thickness, the most common being 1 and 2 mm thick. The 2mm thick mylar while not quite as durable as the foylon, is fairly rugged. The 1mm thick mylar tears fairly easily, so taking it down for cleaning is quite difficult without damaging it in the process. Both types of mylar are able to reflect approximately 92-97% reflective, giving it the potential to be more reflective than foylon, but because foylon is more easily cleaned without damaging it as well as it being harder to crease, foylon usually ends up being slightly more reflective. Important to note is that mylar reflects radiant heat energy just as well as foylon (around 85%), so proper ventilation is necessary if mylar is used in your grow room. Attaching this to walls can be done in a similar fashion as foylon, and the same caution should be used to avoid creating hotspots in your room. The 1mm thick mylar stands a fair chance of being creased or ripped in the process unfortunately, even if Velcro is used to attach to the walls.

[SykonoT]

Where can I get foylon?

[Weedguru Higher]

At a hydro shop or maybe a hardware store like Home Depot or online

Here's what it looks like..



The price appears to be outrageous though...

http://www.hydrodepot.com/catalog_detai ... -%20Foylon

Which is probably why most people just stick with mylar...

[POTSMURF]

Here is a video of my grow room sykonot. I think you might have already seen it but the walls are covered in mylar. You can see the difference between mylar in my video and foylon in higher's picture. Shiny and dull....right?? The price difference isn't worth it either. PEACE TO ALL

[SykonoT]

Yea I was looking at that when I watched and it looks rlly good

[knoodles]

mirrors are a bad choice, they create intense hot spots, and actually absorb a lot, I don´t know exactly how much. but they do.

Mylar works.

Foylon, where can you buy it?

[SykonoT]

Yea I have Mylar now that was a few months ago,and I'm not to sure where to get that other stuff

[Weedguru Higher]

Foylon, where can you buy it?

Online, hardware store, hydro store...shop around

[Weedguru_RyaNayR]

i realize this is an old thread, but just to anyone reading this looking for advice... DO NOT use mirrors, that's a really bad idea because they just focus light, they don't spread it, they don't really reflect the right way, they'll just reflect a focused beam of light basically. and that's fine if you want to take a picture or see detail with your eyes, but not too good for plants cause it will just burn them with too much concentrated light in one spot, if you know what i'm getting at...

and no, mirrors don't absorb light, that's stupid... they reflect 100% of the light in a focused beam, that's why there appears to be less light being reflected, because it is focused not spread. you only notice reflected light making things brighter if it is spread... otherwise it doesn't look like it's "reflected" in your perception./

i hate misinformation based on assumptions... its just not a good tool of deduction at all... any conclusions based on misinterpreted data are fallible.

[Weedguru Higher]

and no, mirrors don't absorb light, that's stupid... they reflect 100% of the light in a focused beam, that's why there appears to be less light being reflected, because it is focused not spread. you only notice reflected light making things brighter if it is spread... otherwise it doesn't look like it's "reflected" in your perception./

i hate misinformation based on assumptions... its just not a good tool of deduction at all... any conclusions based on misinterpreted data are fallible.

Then maybe you should know that mirrors do absorb some light actually

[blackxs]

Wouldnt mirrors be totally fine if they were totalyl flat? The problem is they reflect everything so even a slight convex shape to the mirror will cause it to focus on one portion of the plant

But if it was totally flat and reflecting evenly I dont think it would be a problem. It would be basically like there was a light behind the mirror, shining to the plant.