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[Radium]

I'm tired of having so little sun.
I want to grow fruit plants, just for the fun of it, not for frugality/sustainability.

I'm thinking about covering the entire inner wall of my spare closet with aluminum foil, and hang a LED light at the top.
The foil will keep bouncing the light until some leaf absorb it.
That way a single regular LED lamp can do a lot (I hope).

Still I haven't decided about what to grow inside it, but tomatoes are a sure option.

I have a question though:
Shall I turn off the light at nights to mimic nature? or just leave it ON non-stop?
What difference does that make on plants?

p.s:
Is putting seeds into refrigerator (without first drying them to very low moisture) a good idea for a cheap and fast way of preservation? How about the freezer?

[BubbleCat]

Never leave it on all the time, in fact depending on their biologic design some plants actually grow at night

Mind: even when using LEDs you still need lots of power for a small closet and also you need to consider LEDs emit narrow band light and plants need a wide spectrum.

1 Like Radium likes this.

[Radium]

Good to know!

BTW, with all the recent rise in electricity bills, how much do you think the foil idea will help at getting maximum efficiency out of the lamp(s).
Do you think a 100w LED inside a foiled closet will have the same light as a 200w LED inside a regular closet?

I'm thinking about covering the inner walls with mirrors if I find out that makes a considerable difference compared to aluminum foil (I guess it does).
But must calculate the cost first, to see if it worths.

[BubbleCat]

Good to know!

BTW, with all the recent rise in electricity bills, how much do you think the foil idea will help at getting maximum efficiency out of the lamp(s).
Do you think a 100w LED inside a foiled closet will have the same light as a 200w LED inside a regular closet?

I'm thinking about covering the inner walls with mirrors if I find out that makes a considerable difference compared to aluminum foil (I guess it does).
But must calculate the cost first, to see if it worths.

For some reason mostly reflective cloth or white plastic foil is used in such applications but I dont know exactly why. I dont think you can double the effect of your light with foil, especially if you get the focus right, focused right no light will hit the walls and all light will hit the plants first and reflective lining will be of little use. Also consider that when buying LEDs.
And consider: As LEDs temperature goes up its life expectation goes down over proportionally. Means cool them good. Maybe depending on the closet and the temperature youre aiming for you need ventilation just to keep temperature down.
I would not bother with it as long as I have suitable outdoor space, is that in your new place already ?

[Radium]

The place I've chose so far to move only has 1 cubic meter of balcony, but it has full sun unlike my current one.
I'm not sure about getting that place yet, I might go to some cheaper neighborhood to get a bigger place==> bigger balcony.
But the idea of mirrored closet interests me.
It's so cool to me.

I didn't understand what you said about the focus stuff. please explain more.

[BubbleCat]

Well you talk about redirecting light that hits walls... if you properly design and set it up, no light hits the walls all ends where it supposed to be in the first pace: on your plants. Thats focussing light. Not by a lens but by choosing and arranging light sources right and maybe using one reflector thats part of the lamp.

[nobody]

Just a tip.....if you can find cheap emergency blankets they are far superior to using foil.


nobody

[sporehead]

Ive heard that mirrors and to some extent foil reflects back light that is unusable to  plant.

[nobody]

Ive heard that mirrors and to some extent foil reflects back light that is unusable to  plant.

That is correct, most indoor grow rooms use some sort of material to reflect light and use every lumen possible. Most use either white paint or Mylar, the reflectivity of mylar makes it a better material but it is expensive. An emergency blanket has the same reflectivity of mylar but is much cheaper, 4 foot by 8 foot is 99 cents at WalMart (or was a few years ago). The problem with using foil (and some other materials) is the folds and creases cause a large drop in the amount of light reflected, with foil the creases are almost impossible to remove. To remove the fold lines in an emergency blanket use a warm iron, just like ironing cloths.

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[Radium]

Ive heard that mirrors and to some extent foil reflects back light that is unusable to  plant.

Why?

[BubbleCat]

Just a tip.....if you can find cheap emergency blankets they are far superior to using foil.


nobody

Im already getting him mylar with next seeds shipping 

(And btw it IS mylar)

1 Like Chicsa likes this.

[Chicsa]

Good to know!!! I have a grow tent that uses mylar, it was about 70$ 4'x4'x6', works excellent for plants I can't keep outdoors.

It is a simple design, PVC wrapped in a mylar tent! You can copy this easily with the emergency blanket idea

[BubbleCat]

Clean up ! 

So... since Mylar is a brand name (by Dupont Tejjin Films afaik ?) I don't really think theres a confusion in between languages regarding "Mylar", so for me and us here Mylar is polyester (PET) sheets with some deposited metal (aluminum I think) layer (mostly only one side is metallised so the other is translucent to that layer). That makes Mylar a "boPET" material.
Yours is one of the cloth ones for good ventilation and all, maybe its the same brand so its reffered to as "Mylar" too ?

Also "Foylon" is out there.

I think we should clear up and decide what Mylar is or just go "Polyester sheet" or "Fabric"

However: PET film mylar is incredibly cheap, strong, lightweight and can be highly reflective. Also the Al layer makes it mostly gas proof.

[Chicsa]

I use mylar as a drawing media too I should add. Its very useful. Its an incredible media for ink drawings. I've used it to enhance technical drawings, because it is so clear it looks like nothings there. Put it ontop of a photoshopped version and you have a very nice looking drawing

Also this was before I cleaned up! This is completely concealed you'd have no idea it was there.

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