Mylar???? help

[high2dsky]

i just bought a new 430 hps lite and the grow shop i went to didnt sell lite reflectors but they did have mylar. will the mylar have the same effect as a light reflector????

[jj2ss3o2s]

no, unless you have some building experience, I would say a reflector would be MUCH better then putting together some ghetto reflector made out of mylar. you'd be safer hanging the bulb reflectorless in the middle if the garden.

[CB]

you'd be safer hanging the bulb reflectorless in the middle if the garden.


yep indeed ;) mylar for the walls yes but not for a lamp reflecter


grow on

[bham55]

Flat white paint is much cheaper and much more durable than mylar.
6" stovepipe cut in half longtitudinally makes a fair "batwing" reflector.

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well it sounds like that piece of pipe cut in 1/2 and some mylar and you'll be in bussiness bro......

[high2dsky]

what if i were to put mylar on the walls surrounding the garden? would that be better? my walls are already white so is that in itself better than the mylar??

[jj2ss3o2s]

white paint is just as good, but if your in a rather humid climate there's this black and white plastic sold at grow stores around here. Its called "panda plastic." black on one side and all white on the other. The black side inhibits mold, and the white side reflects light. The shit keeps mold from building up on the wall. This would be unsafe to build a refelctor out of as well.

You should save up for a reflector. you can get em under a $100, or even cheaper on e-bay. def. needed for good light distribution.

[Shadows]

what if i were to put mylar on the walls surrounding the garden? would that be better? my walls are already white so is that in itself better than the mylar??

If temps arent an issue, put the mylar up but if the temps are high with white walls leave the mylar out as it will only increase them more.

[peakguy]

white walls are not as good as mylar. I use mylar in my room and there is a lot more light now than when the walls were painted white. In fact, I now have to wear shades in the grow room and am looking forward to even more light with addition of some digital ballasts. Hell, I even use mylar on the floor under the plants (I had a huge roll of the stuff). The only drawback to the mylar is you get some wierd reflections from the room that can be disconcerting if yer too stoned. I have also heard of that double sided plastic, but only that it is available; anybody using it yet? But I think JJ is right, you need to get a reflector or else you are losing a lot of lumens above your plants where they can't do you any good. Good luck.

[high2dsky]

thanks for all the help u all. what size buds can i expect from the power of a 430 hps lite?? any pictures of examples .... . would be nice....

peace

[CB]

thanks for all the help u all. what size buds can i expect from the power of a 430 hps lite?? any pictures of examples .... . would be nice....

peace

hey bro,

dont have a 430 or pics here but I do have a friend that uses's one in about 7 sq feet and seems to kicks just fine from what i have seen :D

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Hey High,

You've been around a while and I am sure you have heard this before. There are a lot more factors to involve in the size of a bud other than just the light source. 1) Nutrition. 2) Type of plant. 3) Size of room. 4) Distance from light. 5) How well you care for your plants. 6) Humidity. that's just a few off the top of my head bro...

If you have say a 4' x 4' room with a 430 in it then you are gonna be good. I personally use a 2' x 4' grow room and have plenty of light in there. One grow I grew 2 plants in bubblers in that room and had one of the main buds as big around as my forearm and 12-14" long. I have also had grows that left nothing but popcorn buds that were all loose all over the place. So to ask what kind of buds can I expect from a light source isn't really a viable question. Understand?

As for the Panda plastic stuff. I use it to lightproof my Hydro tanks and it does great. I have also recently put it in my cloning/starting cabinet and it is doing great in there this grow. I am about ready to put my Main grow cabinet back together here after my move and I am debating on using the panda Plastic rather than all the reflectex stuff I have in there now. I had some issues with heat and I am hoping it will help reduce it. I just bought a 25' roll for supply so it should be enough.......

Now, for your reflector. Here's my take on it bro. If you want to be able to grow nice buds and not have to worry about safety then spend a little money and get it right before you start with it. If that means waiting a few weeks and saving up some extra cash then I would suggest doing that. That light gets VERY hot and if it were to fall or explode then the chances of having a fire a fairly good. Now, if you did have a fire and the fire dept. had to come put it out and they found a grow room then guess where you would end up..... Not growing huh.....

Just be careful at whatever you do so that you can enjoy growing and not take the chance of harming yourself or others.

Jr.

[high2dsky]

Hey High,

You've been around a while and I am sure you have heard this before. There are a lot more factors to involve in the size of a bud other than just the light source. 1) Nutrition. 2) Type of plant. 3) Size of room. 4) Distance from light. 5) How well you care for your plants. 6) Humidity. that's just a few off the top of my head bro...

If you have say a 4' x 4' room with a 430 in it then you are gonna be good. I personally use a 2' x 4' grow room and have plenty of light in there. One grow I grew 2 plants in bubblers in that room and had one of the main buds as big around as my forearm and 12-14" long. I have also had grows that left nothing but popcorn buds that were all loose all over the place. So to ask what kind of buds can I expect from a light source isn't really a viable question. Understand?

As for the Panda plastic stuff. I use it to lightproof my Hydro tanks and it does great. I have also recently put it in my cloning/starting cabinet and it is doing great in there this grow. I am about ready to put my Main grow cabinet back together here after my move and I am debating on using the panda Plastic rather than all the reflectex stuff I have in there now. I had some issues with heat and I am hoping it will help reduce it. I just bought a 25' roll for supply so it should be enough.......

Now, for your reflector. Here's my take on it bro. If you want to be able to grow nice buds and not have to worry about safety then spend a little money and get it right before you start with it. If that means waiting a few weeks and saving up some extra cash then I would suggest doing that. That light gets VERY hot and if it were to fall or explode then the chances of having a fire a fairly good. Now, if you did have a fire and the fire dept. had to come put it out and they found a grow room then guess where you would end up..... Not growing huh.....

Just be careful at whatever you do so that you can enjoy growing and not take the chance of harming yourself or others.

Jr.

hey Jr. thanks for all the pointers mann. great help indeed. as for how well i take care of my plants, im a serious grower so i keep an eye on them daily. since u said u use mylar or i think u referenced it, ill go ahead and use it on my side walls in my grow room. about the reclector though, r u saying that the refletor reduces the heat of the bulb thus preventing a possible blow up?? is that rite?? get back to me on that one. thanks alot mann. peace:cool:

[Jr. Greenthumb]

Well bro, as for taking good care of your plants. Yea we all try to but sometimes things are out of your hands or shit happens. Your PH goes way out of range and you end up fighting it for a while, you over nute your plants and burn them. We've all done things that later effected the quality of the bud, not neccasarily the taste or smoke but the look and density of it. My last grow the buds looked like shit, mainly cause I had a lot of problems with the grow. But that's beside the case.

I don't use mylar myself but have at it bro, that's half the fun of growing, trying out new things and see how they work. What I meant by the reflector isn't about the heat as much as they safety aspect. A reflector is build specifically for holding that bulb in a safe manner. Now if you use a reflector with a glass on it then you can vent it out a lot better to help control the heat. Back to what I was saying, If you use a chunk of 2"x4" and some sheet metal all duck taped together as a makeshift reflector then the chances of having issues arise are a lot greater.

[wakka]

we tried mylar, but we always end up putting hooks in the walls of our cabinet to support taller plants, and that mylar got messed up quicker than bush fucked up iraq. so we just go with the plain white walls.

[high2dsky]

we tried mylar, but we always end up putting hooks in the walls of our cabinet to support taller plants, and that mylar got messed up quicker than bush fucked up iraq. so we just go with the plain white walls.


grEAT fukin info wakka. thanks mate. and Jr.,
now i catch your drift. thanks for all the help u all. ill keep eve rybody updated. peace

[Cakes]

A reflector's shape can be important because it determines the light's footprint on the grow. in other words. if the reflector is square, then the light will shine down on the plants in a square shaft of light. if the reflector is a rectangle, the shaft of light will be a rectangle. it can be a rectangle with sides twice as long as the ends or sides that are three times as long as the ends. reflectors can be made in the exact shape of a grow space.

and not all bulbs are best with a cover. Some 400W lights can be kept inches away without a cover. Some people think a cover can concentrate heat instead of allowing for dissipation. it can be highly dependent on bulb type. and for the most part, the best way to go is with fans that cool the air in the hood/reflector.

this pic of a homemade reflector is canna neat because it shows inlets for the cooling ducts and it shows a silver reflector meant to project the light past the the inlet ducts and keep any of that light from being lost to the openings of the ducts:

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p14/CakesPix/diyselfcoolinghood.jpg

the silver reflector looks like the ones used for common shop droplights. and there is no cover.

Although I have never heard of it being used, i wonder about the finishes that may be had from chrome spray paint. Or something like it. Although I believe in the power of hotspots, I am currently experiencing no problems with using mirrors.

[wakka]

if you check out any lights places, they have about ten thousand different kids of finishes. some swear by the pebbled surface and some swear by mirror finishes.