Foil on the floor?

[TjMartin]

I recently built my first grow box with cardboard and lined the walls with foil as well as the floor.

My question is do I need the floor foiled to reflect the light upwards? What are the pros and cons? The walls are foiled down to the floor of the box, and the plants are all less than 4 weeks old.

I have a hydrofarm light fixture above that holds two T-5s about 2-3" above the tallest plants.

 

[PIC 1]

Any reflective material helps. Weather its foil, mylar or just plain old white trash bags. Anything thats spill proof such as a plastic material helps with liquids and dirt when in need to clean up.

 

[pshngo]

It's all your choice. in my closet i use mylar blankets on the wall. check out the bottom tray. I cut a sunshield for your car window and attached it to the sides, you can see the difference in light in the tray

 

[Trippa]

Panda plastic is one of the best/most reflective for light linings you can get. Also one of the cheapest and extremely easy to work with.

And as PIC 1 said floor coverings makes cleaning up a breeze.

Obviously use the white side

 

[Mrjohnstonbaugh]

Panda plastic is one of the best/most reflective for light linings you can get. Also one of the cheapest and extremely easy to work with.

Trippa where do you find Panda Plastic? I have checked my local Lowes and home Depot...? I will continue using Mylar for now, just looking to try something new for 2013.

Thanks!

 

[Trippa]

Hydroponics stores or eBay. People call it panda plastic as a slang term in reality it may be called something else like black and white poly . Its white on one side and black on the other (hence panda) and is nice and tough but flexible.

You just need some Velcro tape or similar to hold it in place and that way you can lift it up clean it off and then put it right back in with no fuss

 

[millworkman]

Some of the "other " growers have found that flat white paint works as good if not better than some f the films.

 

[sicman]

heck,,i knew people that would cover a whole room in tin foil growing and there "crop" would turn out great.

 

[Trippa]

White is almost 100% reflective (hence the white reflecting all light/colour spectrums in equal amounts) whereas some reflective surfaces actually absorb light in differing amounts .... this is especially true for highly reflective items like mirrors

 

[Mrjohnstonbaugh]

Hydroponics stores or eBay. People call it panda plastic as a slang term in reality it may be called something else like black and white poly . Its white on one side and black on the other (hence panda) and is nice and tough but flexible.

You just need some Velcro tape or similar to hold it in place and that way you can lift it up clean it off and then put it right back in with no fuss

Trippa, Thank you for the reply, I saw Black and White Poly on Amazon, glad to know its one in the same, Ill grab it from there.

 

[Sanarda]

Hmm so in my new grow space I need to make a decision between Mylar foil flat white paint or panda plastic. Jeese. Someone just tell me what to do. I'm a woman I need specific directions. Ahaahhahaahhaaa

 

[willard3]

Hmm so in my new grow space I need to make a decision between Mylar foil flat white paint or panda plastic. Jeese. Someone just tell me what to do. I'm a woman I need specific directions. Ahaahhahaahhaaa

Flip a coin, it's as good as any other method.

 

[jonnyb]

It's nice to see a lady on a site that's predominantly male for a change. It's bad enough being a chemical engineering student which is about 2:1; I need to pick some more mixed hobbies!

And I would go for Panda Plastic, it diffuses the reflected light. If you're growing outside though, apparently silver reflective floor surface covering repels insects too for some reason. (According to Dave Dewitt's book on growing chillies that I seem to reference regularly)

 

[AZJ]

I found a product at the home improvement warehouse called Reflectix. It is an insulation product that looks like bubble wrap made from reflective mylar. It comes on a 25 ft roll for $15 to $20.

 

[bluemeanietsi]

HEre's my foil experiment. Thoughs are maybe all the angles will reflect light all around:

 

[DevilsEyes]

Adding foil to the floor is allways a good idea (except when the canopy is so large that light cant penetrate anymore), the light will have an extra
medium to reflect from, no matter which kind of foil u are using.
My personal experience learns me that glossy white foil gives extra lumens in comparison to alu-foil.
As the alu foil will create burn points and hot spots in the room. The glossy white foil will disperse the light evenly.
This translates in the fact that when u use white foil u will have even measurements of lux-units no matter where u test with the meter,
as with alu foil u will create darker spots in some places and hot spots in other.
I've tested this thouroughly several years ago while growing other plants... (used to have a digital lux-meter and the results spoke for themselves..)

 

[Jamison]

The only thing about foil is to make sure it isn't all wrinkled up.

 

[Threehundredc]

all the light coming from the top wont hit the leaves that are covered by the bigger higher leaves so if it can bounce off a wall off the floor and back up to a leave then yea its worth it

 

[Sarg3]

Foil isn't a great choice.  I always used mylar.  The average foil only reflects something like 50% light, while some reflect up to like 80%.  Also, it reflects heat way better than it does light. Flat white paint would be better than foil. 
 
Never heard of the panda stuff.