Paint it white? y/n

[BonsaiBud]

3 x 50 HPS cool tube lamp

I have Rust-oleum flat white. What you see is aluminum HVAC tape (I thought it reflected good...lol)

 

[ItsGrowTime]

There probably wouldnt be any noticable difference between flat white and the reflective aluminum. I wouldnt bother painting.

 

[Guest]

Your Question is in fact the ANSWER----Yes

 

[z0ngsong]

if you are listening to the rolling stones you'll paint it black otherwise... i think your tape is better than flat white... or about the same... ))))))

 

[Microwido]

I would definitely think reflective aluminum tape would reflect more light than the color white.

 

[slohemian]

Beware of how heat dessipates off of aluminum. Its completely different from flat white or even mylar.

 

[BonsaiBud]

z0ngsong:
I've also got Rust-oleum flat black and blue painters tape. I intend to do the door sill of the cabinet. I will definitely play "paint it black" when I do that. I also plan to glue on some black neoprene gasket material around the door so I don't have to use the ol'e dark bed sheet hung with bricks method on my light leaks.
slohemeian: I do have some concave surfaces on the inside of the door. I got some burnt leaf when I first added an HPS. I just taped all those curved areas with black tape, so I suppose I'll pull it off and paint those. Perhaps the corners.

 

[Guest]

i think your tape is better than flat white... or about the same

I don't agree. Basically mylar is best then flat white paint but really don't know where the tape comes into play but would never recommend anyone ever use it as you did. Mylar is a pain as it's surface gets contaminated pretty easy. Paint is easy and inexpensive to cover with another coat but don't know about the spray stuff. Wouldn't use or recommend that either.

 

[slohemian]

I know that with a CMH bulb, flat white is the way to go. HPS i'd have to say mylar.

bonsaibud: are you saying that the concave shapes on your door caused hot spots on your plant? I know thats also a downside of mylar.

 

[BonsaiBud]

Mylar is out of the question. I have it downstairs in Surrealistic Pillow the Grow Box. But the 'Pillow is all flouro; so no point source light = no problem.

My paint is the professional oil-based stuff that comes in a press-top can. No spray paint.

 

[Guest]

if you are listening to the rolling stones you'll paint it black otherwise... i think your tape is better than flat white... or about the same... ))))))

You said " I think your tape is better than flat white". I ask you zOngsong, please cite the source of information that supports your "I think" opinion as in presenting tried and applied scientific principles .

Interesting answers to follow, and perhaps even humorous,

TyStik

 

[ItsGrowTime]

You said " I think your tape is better than flat white". I ask you zOngsong, please cite the source of information that supports your "I think" opinion as in presenting tried and applied scientific principles .

Interesting answers to follow, and perhaps even humorous,

TyStik

I cant speak for zong but we both had the same feeling, I think. In such a small cab, the plants would catch pretty much all the light at the fan leaves so the reflective material beyond the plants would be somewhat moot. There wouldnt be any tangible benefit (meaning increase in yield or quality) from white paint over the aluminum. It's just not big enough to really matter.

 

[BonsaiBud]

I can't paint until the weekend due to weather. No rush. Perhaps we can get some reflective data on Al HVAC tape. Otherwise, I'll just wait until I get a Retrowhite 250 and Super Sun reflector to replace Surrealistic Pillow the Lamp down on level 1. I'll cut the Mylar out and paint the lower level. But that will have to wait a couple months. How about 70 watts CMH per square foot? It will be quite a bit more intense up at lamp level. That number is per floor area.

 

[BonsaiBud]

Now what I really need to do is get some aluminum flashing and polish it and build a proper reflector for my HPS lights. Going to find some telescope forums for tips on polishing to a mirror finish, brb.

 

[BonsaiBud]

The bigger bagseed:



The "little" one.



Both are in reveg. I will be flipping them soon.

 

[kelimmo]

Some figures from the finnish online book "Hullu puutarhuri" ("Crazy gardener")

Material: Reflectivity:
Mylar 90 – 98 %
Foylon 92 - 95 %
Black/white plastic film 85 - 90 %
Normal white paint 60 - 90 %
Mirror 82 - 87 %
Shiny white paint 70 - 80 %
Aluminium foil 50 - 70 %
Black paint < 10 %



The thing with aluminium foil (and alu tape) is that it distorts the spectrum and absorbs lots of the wrong spectrum and converts it to heat.


I'd say definately paint it white.

 

[Guest]

yep, white is the way to go

It will increse your lighting a bit I belive

 

[z0ngsong]

You said " I think your tape is better than flat white". I ask you zOngsong, please cite the source of information that supports your "I think" opinion as in presenting tried and applied scientific principles .

Interesting answers to follow, and perhaps even humorous,

TyStik

We have a winner in the douche bag of the year contest

thats a very nice post kelimmo

 

[BonsaiBud]

OK guys, I guess the plants are gonna be hanging out in in the bathtub for a while. I need to redo some of the ventilation while I am at it. I'd like to exhaust across my HPS bulbs, but that may just have to wait. Its a very tight fit in there and it will take some really creative work with PVC pipe. As it is, the plants cant touch anything hotter than boiling temps, so at least there is no fire danger.

 

[BonsaiBud]

I painted it white.

I painted it white.

Satori re-flower. (all new growth)

Bagseed monster. (all new growth)

These go OUT. No cages, they are becoming too massive for a dear to eat down to the stump. Did I mention they don't smell very good?

Yes, it is brighter in there. More of the "white" spectrum is reflected. My canopy fills it up pretty well.