Grow cabinet with mirrors

hectik · May 12, 2008

im new at growing and i had a quick question i have my 2 plants inside of a cabinet about 4'x3' and i have the entire cabinet surrounded (top bottom and all sides)with mirrors i bought at ikea (mirrors are attached to wall with double sided tape) i dont know if im doing the right thing by using mirrors to reflect the light .. any suggestions would be much appreciated

ceestyle · May 12, 2008

mirrors have glass atop the reflective portion which absorb some light. better than nothing but not as good as, say, mylar.

hectik · May 12, 2008

know if mylar is expensive

Yondaime · May 12, 2008

I just use tin foil :/

hectik · May 12, 2008

Yondaime said:
I just use tin foil :/

i thought about using tin foil but read that foil will burn my plants but im not sure.. =/

Phrasty · May 12, 2008

I use that mylar-type gift wrapping paper paper. I just reverse it to have the reflective side out. Its been working great for me, its cheap (I guess $5 a roll or so) easy, and it comes in a roll. Try it out.

Bless.
Phrasty

ceestyle · May 12, 2008

yeah it's probably $20-25 for a roll of mylar, but it's a lot of mylar ... got mine at a hydro shop.

Yondaime · May 12, 2008

If it doesn't touch the plants, the foil is a good distance away from the leaves and you have good ventilation I don't see why it would cause a problem but considering the power of the lights some of you use I guess it could burn the plants

I don't have that problem, but my lights aren't that strong so I don't know...

Edit: just realized theres a pic of my set up a week ago in my avatar

hectik · May 12, 2008

im going to stop by a hydro store on the way home if no mylar i'll try the foil i'll just place it a good distance away from my plants , for light well i have 8 cfls for those 2 plants, and i have some ballast and hid light bulbs that i have left over (used to sell hid kits on ebay) and well i was thinking if it was a good idea to put that hid kit inside my grow cabinet since HID's are bright ass hell

ceestyle · May 12, 2008

i bet $$$ the hydro store carries it.

hectik · May 12, 2008

shit hopefully

cuz today is payday! cheaa!!

BigBudBalls · May 12, 2008

Mylar is clear. (in the visible range, same range plants use)

Mylar is made shinny by the addition of aluminum.

Foil is bad because of the wrinkles causing focal points to burn the plant.

Mylar wrinkles.

Flat white (brilliant white best) is the way to go.

Mylar will absorb light too. (maybe not as much as glass. Glass has a typical 2% absorption rate) Both have a refractive index too.

hectik · May 12, 2008

ok i see now so foil is out of the question then..... mylar or flat white paint.. got it!

ceestyle · May 12, 2008

BigBudBalls said:
Mylar is clear. (in the visible range, same range plants use)

Mylar is made shinny by the addition of aluminum.

Foil is bad because of the wrinkles causing focal points to burn the plant.

Mylar wrinkles.

Flat white (brilliant white best) is the way to go.

Mylar will absorb light too. (maybe not as much as glass. Glass has a typical 2% absorption rate) Both have a refractive index too.

I'd have to disagree with that. Mylar is so thin it barely absorbs. If you get 2mil it's not hard to put it up w/o wrinkling.

Flat white produces very diffuse light, as it scatters a lot. It's better than things that focus light, as you pointed out, but as light hits white paint it goes in all directions rather than simply being reflected. This eliminates the possibility of multiple reflections before light hits the plant.

hectik · May 12, 2008

ceestyle said:
I'd have to disagree with that. Mylar is so thin it barely absorbs. If you get 2mil it's not hard to put it up w/o wrinkling.

Flat white produces very diffuse light, as it scatters a lot. It's better than things that focus light, as you pointed out, but as light hits white paint it goes in all directions rather than simply being reflected. This eliminates the possibility of multiple reflections before light hits the plant.

humm you make a good point aswell with with paint light will go in all directions .... should i try to put 1 plant in one cabinet and the second plant ina different cabinet, i have like 4 empty cabinets and they're huge

... besides its my first grow i should try white paint and mylar in one..

BigBudBalls · May 12, 2008

ceestyle said:
I'd have to disagree with that. Mylar is so thin it barely absorbs. If you get 2mil it's not hard to put it up w/o wrinkling.

Flat white produces very diffuse light, as it scatters a lot. It's better than things that focus light, as you pointed out, but as light hits white paint it goes in all directions rather than simply being reflected. This eliminates the possibility of multiple reflections before light hits the plant.

???? WHAT????

You saying mylar is the perfect optic? zero absorption, 100% reflectance, zero transmission?

Alum side in has absorption?
Mylar side in has none?
Mylar is clear.
If the Mylar side in is better (can see points to it), then mylar reflects more then the alum substrate (since the alum does the absorption, as you state). If thats true, why not use the clear mylar and save the alum substrate?

(ever used a spectrophotometer?)

hectik · May 12, 2008

wowsers we went from mirrors to foil from foil to white paint from paint to mylar and from mylar to spectrophotolkajlrkjasklrjslkjrlmeters... cool

BigBudBalls · May 12, 2008

ceestyle said:
I'd have to disagree with that. Mylar is so thin it barely absorbs. If you get 2mil it's not hard to put it up w/o wrinkling.

Flat white produces very diffuse light, as it scatters a lot. It's better than things that focus light, as you pointed out, but as light hits white paint it goes in all directions rather than simply being reflected. This eliminates the possibility of multiple reflections before light hits the plant.

Define (with refs) "barely absorbs". And what is the transmission of the mylar? 2mil mylar lets more light *through* it then 3mil. That light is NOT being given back to the plant.

Flat white, yes defuses the light, actually a good thing. It scatters the light as compared to mylar which reflects is at the same angle (with the refraction x2, in and out) from the entrance angle.

hectik · May 12, 2008

i think i should just put one plant in one cabinet with mylar and one in another cabinet with white paint.

Yondaime · May 12, 2008

Geez, you would need quite a strong light to burn a plant using tin foil..

Anyway good luck with your grow

Grow cabinet with mirrors

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