calling all Mylar haters

[BonsaiBud]

Is it something to do with point-source-light and parabolic mirrors formed by smooth curves in the material and burned leafes?

white poly panda film
poly
VOC off gassing? No?

I figure that no "white" surface will reflect the short wavelength blues and UVs like a super smooth surface like Mylar.

I have tiny grow boxes. What about pebbleized aluminum reflector material. (if cost were not an issue, anomet has a large variety).

Does white panda film diffuse more light to the lower parts of the plant?

Does mylar not hold up under intense light and heat rays?

Do all the reflections confuse the plants sense of growing towards the sun?

Yes, they say in the old books that flat white paint reflects in the high 90s, but anyone got an SPD of that reflection? Did they use a full spectrum detector or just a simple candle power meter?


Who says I cut it all out and use white panda film? Who votes I keep it? Who votes I wait until I get my 250 Retrowhite before I bother?

 

[PurplePotion]

You're really over-thinking things, man.

Don't fix what isn't broken. If it's working good for you, keep it. No sense in wasting time, money and energy.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

i notice my sidenugs fill out a tad bit more with mylar, ive never gotten 20% reflection off white paint... more like 3%... IME pandapoly is good but no replacement formylar, but mylar cant have water/nute/foliar drops left on it or it looses its shine....... it looses the reflective backing if the wall/mylar get wet, sometimes.

 

[PurplePotion]

If objects scatter all wavelengths, they appear white. If they absorb all wavelengths, they appear black.

White reflects, or scatters, all wavelengths.

Reflective Chart
Material Reflectivity
Black Less than 10%
Aluminium Foil 55-70%
Semi-gloss White Paint 60-70%
White / Black / White Film 70-85%
Flat White Paint 75-80%
Polystyrene Foam Sheeting 75-85%
Mylar Sheeting 90-92%

Contrary to popular belief, aluminium foil does not provide a good reflective surface even when it is flat. As soon as it becomes creased and crinkled, which it inevitably does, it will become even less effective.

A far better reflective surface can be achieved with a couple of coats of flat white paint, windows and fireplaces can be covered with Black / White or White / Black / White plastic film which also makes an excellent reflective floor covering.

Be careful when you choose your paint. The one to use is the water based flat white that contains no varnish substances which are known to absorb certain colours in the spectral waveband. Glossy paint should not be used as it lends itself to bright spots and glare. In a temporary situation where you may not wish to use paint, we would strongly recommend polystyrene foam sheeting. These sheets can be attached to the wall with blue tack and removed at the end of the crop.

Polystyrene is a brilliantly reflective material. It is always good to have a few spare sheets on hand as it can be used in many different ways to maximise the light around your plants.

White / Black / White plastic film is another excellent material that has helped to make indoor gardening possible. As its name implies, this tough film is white on each side with a black layer sandwiched in between, so it can perform an important dual function of excluding unwanted light on the one hand and reflecting desirable light on the other. Provided that it is carefully placed, this film can be used to make a room completely light-tight. In the first place, it can be used to cover windows when constructing your grow room. This is extremely important if you are using grow lights as an uncovered window will tend to light up large areas of the neighbourhood which can attract attention and possibly invite burglary or vandalism. In the second place, the exclusion of all natural light will allow you to have total control over your plants’ light source. Control of the light source means that with certain species, for instance, flowering can be induced by reducing the light hours. This is a commercial technique favoured by flower producers such as chrysanthemum growers. White / Black / White plastic film can also be used as a floor covering which will help protect carpets from water or nutrient solution which can easily be spilt or splashed. White / Black / White is available by the linear metre from any grow shop.

A combination of white paint, polystyrene sheeting and White/Black/White film will allow you to build a growroom in which all the visible surfaces are white. This will ensure the maximum use of light that you are providing. Any dark walls or furniture will effectively act as "holes" through which your light will escape.

 

[BonsaiBud]

Thanks guys
It is truely a thing of beauty.
I have this one T5 that emitts half its output beyond the visible.



That is what I want to reflect so badly. Pilk bulb is like the flower button. My 460nm actinics push the veg button. My HPS still has my bagseed flowering at 19 hours daylight. It began to flower under 24 with that CFL in the first pic.

Aluminum tape? superior to foil, tons of work

 

[wafflehouselove]

I dont use it anymore because i have my own reason, its not that we're hating on it we just have our own reason not to use it anymore. But mylar is very great at doing what it is suppose to do and probably many other things.

 

[Mr Celsius]

I figure that no "white" surface will reflect the short wavelength blues and UVs like a super smooth surface like Mylar.

How's that? Documentation please.

 

[BonsaiBud]

The susnest is orange-yellow b/c the long wavelengths difract less and scatter less. IR remotes can be bounced off of curtains and brick walls. I can verify that shorter than 430 does little good. I tried a 420 bulb along with my pink bulb in my later stages of flowering. While the 460 actinics produce prodigous veg growth, the 420 just burns the leaves (leaves grow up against tubes and between the bulb and reflector. My pink bulb really burned the fan leaves but it was just like instant hairs everywhere. I'm tempted to put the pink back in with the 460 and veg under 24 and still get some buds from the bagseed. Yes, I want to have my cake and eat it too. I'll let you know when they all herm out on me.

I shall replace all the mylar on the CFL "hood" and socket bar with foil tape and screw my DIY CFL reflectors onto the board. The mylar on the walls is going to stay until I get a nice HID light in there. This is my first time with mylar, and I plan to have fun with it. I may even make a mylar floor to go under the plants and over the buckets with grooves for the stem and a small breathing hole around the stems for the soil to breath. I'm keeping all my electronics outside the grow box. If I get a HPS 250 kit ballast for the retrowhite, then it will get its own air cooled chamber made of 18 g steel. If I get a proper box ballast, it will be external. Pretty soon I will need a mini cab just for my ballasts, VFD, step-up transformer for the VFD, and timers. My fan and filter are internal. the Lowryder box will sit on top of my new one like a fridge-freezer. Duct work everywhere.

 

[chosen]

Elastomeric white paint. Waterproof and around 90% reflective

 

[B00st3d]

I have found mylar to be crap in my applications. Unless its applied perfectly smoothly and evenly to the wall then its useless. Most of the light it refelcts it scatters all over the room. I get better results without it. I use this foam insulation board to build my walls and it has this flat silver finish that reflects the light more evenly, I can always tell when I see light bouncin off the walls outside my garden that its not workin right. Im sure for sum ppl it works or at least they will swear by it but I say its a waste of time and money IMO

 

[zoolander]

I love mylar, I keep it tight with no ripples and I know it works well for myself, but hey thats why were all different and what works for one wont work for others