Grow Shelf. What type of Lining?

M

MightyCow9

Hey guys. I built a shelf out of scrap would that is in my laundry room. I am in Texas and my house will generally be fairly warm in the winter, 65 in that room would be pretty low. I am upgrading from the CFL lights and heat mats on a wire frame rack that I did last year.  We have plans to renovate this room someday, so this doesn't have to be a permanent solution. The heat mats help a lot with the temp of the soil, so I don't think insulation is extremely important for me. Should I use the reflective bubble wrap style attic insulation or just cover the walls with reflective mylar?  What should I do for covering the front? Note that "door" is a closed off door that used to be a way to get to the back bedrooms. Not sure how to post images on this site. I will link a facebook post for now.
 
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10101965297380187&set=a.787763718127.2406256.9629181&type=1&theater&notif_t=like
 
Panda paper the Black and white works best for reflection or white paint.I really don't think you need anything for you seed set up I just would plant them and let em grow. 70- 75 degrees works better. I keep my basment at 75 and they grow fine. If they start to grow too fast I cut my temps back to 55-60 and that slows them down,
 
white plastic sheeting works great.  I avoid anything foil like.  Sure it reflects but it also creates hot spots.
 
Just had a look at the setup.  Personally, I would leave the front open, and wrap the sides and back with plastic but leaving a few inches of gap at the top of each shelf that contains a light to let any built up heat escape.  Would also be good ventilation for any fans you plan to use on them to strengthen them up. 
 
I just have white painted walls, so far that seems to be enough.
 
But I am not running cfl so it probably don't help.
 
I would go with flat white paint for large areas. You would be surprised how reflective it is. 
 
I hadn't really thought about white washing the walls. That would be simple enough to do and cheap.  Thanks for the quick responses guys!
 
If it's going to be reflective, then it has to be relatively smooth to avoid flashing and or hot spots (it can do unexpected things to plants). But otherwise, smooth foil or mylar is good because it "refocuses" the bulb back onto the plants.
 
Painting the surrroundings white is a good substitute with no worries of flashing or hot spots. But the closer the better, otherwise the light scatters away.
 
Would placing mylar, emergency blanket of aluminum foil, whatever you have chosen to use, under the plants to provide illumination from under the plants be beneficial in any way or is it detrimental?
 
I have my grow shelf with OSB plywood & metal rack. I have everything on that. The only thing I did was take an old beach towel and put it under the heat mat. I don't want to heat the plywood. I only want the heat to go up. The towel is rolled up around the heat mat to keep if from loosing heat. You would be surprised how much heat loss there was. The thermostat would stay on without beach towel, but with it now it only goes on as needed.



You can see the blue beach towel on the lower left hand side. This is my tried and true setup.

The white wall is your best bet. I do also have Mylar, but be careful you can burn your plants. Just like you they don't like getting hit with a mirror in the face. You can burn them. I would only do this when I have a fully automated system.
 
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