Tin foil - White paint...Which is better?

josh878 said:

So a few of you have told me not to use tin foil so I'm wondering if I should use white paint instead?
If I do use white paint, how long should I wait after painting before putting my plants back in the box?
Thanks.
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Grow FAQ. Top of page.

paint. how long? wait 2 days longer then you stop smelling it.

(though I think, personally, the tinfoil is fine if its smooth and tight to the wall. The wrinkles seem to give the hot spots.)

what if i just painted my grow box and that is th only place i have to put my plants.

so what i am trying to say is what will happen if i wait until the paint is dry to the touch and then i put the plants back will they be hurt from the smell or will they be fine.

Most likely nothing. Plants are filters. But I'd only do it during the early veg state so the uglies will be gone by the time its ready to o into flowering.

You could also get no or low VOC paint.

(flat white spray paint drie sreally quick)

tin foil only reflects heat, which is bad... you should spray paint with flat white and smack some mylar in there after it dries... 2mil mylar is relatively cheap for the benefits it offers

koncyse said:

tin foil only reflects heat, which is bad... you should spray paint with flat white and smack some mylar in there after it dries... 2mil mylar is relatively cheap for the benefits it offers

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*ONLY*?? LOL !!

yup, just the IR and far-IR, *nothing* in the 350-800nm range.

(not to mention the mylar is aluminized, thats the shiny part. virgin mylar is clear. Just look at the mylar/kevlar sails the America's Cup boats use. Its kevlar strands sandwhiched between mylar.)

well... not only... but mainly... reflective mylar is better than tin foil... not even arguably.. hands down better for reflection..

koncyse said:

well... not only... but mainly... reflective mylar is better than tin foil... not even arguably.. hands down better for reflection..

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So aluminized mylar is better then aluminum foil?
Why?

Just playing devil's advocate now. (I'm a fan of the white paint myself; mylar if it stays wrinkle free)

Hydro shop will tell you this because they sell mylar, the dollar store sells foil.

I'll try to get a friend to run some mylar and foil through a spectrophotometer.

you can look at pictures of setups with foil wallpaper and mylar wallpaper and see a huge difference with the lights on.. i couldnt honestly tell you what it could be, i'm just speaking from reflections in pictures... i would definitely put my money on mylar just to be safe though... cant wait to get the results of the foil vs mylar test though.. thats a great idea

The reflectivity of aluminum in the plant PAR region (380 - 720 nm) is about 90% or a little better. At much longer wavelengths (ie. "heat" or infrared ... thermal infrared wavelengths are in the 8-12 micron range) it is much higher, but in the visible wavelength region Al isn't bad at all as a reflector. There are many web sites showing Al reflectivity curves and Al is Al is Al, whether it's a block of pure metal or foil. Here is one example, but any optics shop who sell bare metal mirrors also have these curves on their web sites.

High Reflector Designs

Snake, this is kinda my point.

Mylar is clear by nature. Its made reflective with aluminum.

The urban myth that aluminum foil is crap and mylar is tits, has me stumped.

With both, the reflective medium is aluminum. OK, the mylar can adjust the optic qualities. (depending on which side is facing the plant.)

BigBudBalls said:

Snake, this is kinda my point.

Mylar is clear by nature. Its made reflective with aluminum.

The urban myth that aluminum foil is crap and mylar is tits, has me stumped.

With both, the reflective medium is aluminum. OK, the mylar can adjust the optic qualities. (depending on which side is facing the plant.)

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Sorry BigBudBalls ... I should have quoted the post about Al reflecting "only heat" since I was trying to address that comment. The only problems I've heard about Al foil are hot spots potentially caused by wrinkles if the foil is very close to the plants and the wrinkle is just in the right spot. But as far as plain old reflectivity of the metal, Al is Al.

go for the white walls and let these two ppl do their tests lol maybe on next grow u can use mylar or foil lol

Snake said:

Sorry BigBudBalls ... I should have quoted the post about Al reflecting "only heat" since I was trying to address that comment. The only problems I've heard about Al foil are hot spots potentially caused by wrinkles if the foil is very close to the plants and the wrinkle is just in the right spot. But as far as plain old reflectivity of the metal, Al is Al.

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*THANKS* !!!

This has been my Q about this debate. Foil wrinkles. So does mylar. I can smooth out foil, but mylar holds its wrinkles.

I had started out (ultra newbie) with foil. I used a glue stick (non permanent) to adhere it to the walls. Was smoothed out with no wrinkles. Didn't see a prob with it. But going by the 'norm' I switched to flat white paint (used exterior for the humidity aspect)


Man! I didn't wanna hijack this guys thread, but at least we stayed on topic. (sorry dude!)

i use 6mil white visqueen plastic and it works perfectly as far as hot spots and being reflective are concerned

ok because my plants are like 2-3 weeks before they are done flowering and i had to put them back in the box because that is the only place i had to put them.

man i hope they will be ok seeing that i have been watching them like kids for the last 3-4 months.

peace
question
is it better to just hang the lights over the plants. or i have a peace of cardboard that is covered in tinfoil and then i cut holes to hang the light through so the ligth just reflects down and hits the plants.
should i leave it like this of just get rid of the cardboard and hang them.

cardboard sucks ass because i get a allergic reaction from it.

I have another view to the debate, what about painting Aluminum foil with flat white paint?

why in the hell would u paint foil that is just dumb

paint Flat finish white.

use the foil for cooking a turkey