Applying Foil to Walls?
- Thread starter EmilyRose
- Start date
virulient
Active Member
You don't want to use foil. It mostly reflects heat, and does a very poor job at reflecting light. It will only create hot-spots and scorch your fan leaves. You want to get mylar or white paint. I use mylar in my room, it's really cheap and they come in huge pieces, so I just taped the corners to the wall and called it a day. Only took me about 15 mins to do the whole room.
lokie
Well-Known Member
dont use it. foil is not the better wall covering. it can cause hot spots. if you have no choice use the dull side out, toward your grow.
Mylar, panda film (white on one side black on the other), emergency blankets bought at an auto parts store or some
insulating products from a hardware store will be much more efficient.
How to install it? that depends on your situation. tape, staples, glue are some ways that may work.
Mylar, panda film (white on one side black on the other), emergency blankets bought at an auto parts store or some
insulating products from a hardware store will be much more efficient.
How to install it? that depends on your situation. tape, staples, glue are some ways that may work.
0calli
Well-Known Member
youre white wall paint if its that will give better reflection luv and welcome to riu need any more help stop by the doggie nuts thread were a huge family of growers that love to help from start to finish and we just talk everyday stuff share pics etc come on over and join the biggest growing fam on RIU
link ===> https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/425185-doggies-nuts-more-money-than-2072.html
link ===> https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/425185-doggies-nuts-more-money-than-2072.html
donmagicjuan
Active Member
tape both sides as well as tape circles in the back so it doesnt flop in the wind. tin foil is fine. i dont get hot spots. it makes a good contained home. if you have lights reflection doesnt matter
autobahn101
Member
Why are you considering using foil?
EmilyRose
Member
Thanks my walls are a lovely white already
this is my first go at indoor growing.. i normally grow everything outside ( i love my little farm) but my horse broke down my fence to eat my last lot of plants.. so im trying out indoors thanks heaps xx emily
0calli
Well-Known Member
donmagicjuan
Active Member
if u have powerful lights a little reflection doesnt matter tin foil makes a good little house i make a trash bag floor too and all works great
Undercover Cop
Active Member
Oh, how the mis-information abounds... If your hand will not burn at the same distance that your foil is from your lights, then there is no way for the foil to"concentrate" the light into a beam/hot spot that can burn your plants. You'll be fine with foil, it works well and is cheap. Mylar is best and reflects 95%, then the white side of panda film which reflects abt 90% of all light, then aluminum foil at 85%, then FLAT white paint (not gloss or Ti white, pigments used will absorb more light than plain ol flat white) at 82%. Aluminum foil is cheapest, but not the best. Panda film is expensive, but durable and easy to clean, mylar is best but is expensive, delicate and hard to clean. You'll be fine w foil until you have extra $ for upgrades to whatever works best for your situation. Don't worry about hot spots tho. I wish someone with real experience would come forward and claim that they've had leaves burned by light that has been reflected off foil, light that has traveled further to hit the leaves than light straight from the bulb, light that has been scattered by the micro textured surface of the foil (it scatters light very well, try to see your reflection in foil) mylar would be more likely to create a hot spot from reflected light if the proposed theory were true. If you wrap your fixture in aluminum foil or put a bunch of foil near a hot bulb it can transfer the radiant heat... But plastic mylar and panda film would both melt in the same conditions, sooo...
Undercover Cop
Active Member
3m spray glue it to your surface for permanent application, otherwise blue painters tape for temporary. That way if you foliar feed and overspray, you can replace it each grow when it gets spotty.
Undercover Cop
Active Member
Mirrors are what not to use, simply cuz too much light is absorbed/refracted by the glass as the light travels thru it twice (before then again after striking the reflective surface (mylar) behind the glass.
dadio161
Well-Known Member
You obviously haven't done any research . There are SOOOO mant threads here that recommend NOT to use foil. Just use white paint or nothing at all. Don't make this harder than it has to be . Good luck and Happy growing.
Undercover Cop
Active Member
Yeah and forums are full of noobs too, who like to repeat things they hear without any first hand experience. I currently use white paint, foil, panda film AND mylar, whatever is best for each situation. I'm waiting to hear from ONE person who will claim they have burned a leaf from reflected light when light from the bulb wouldn't. Think about that.
If you have a perfectly spherical dish that you line with foil and make a perfectly symmetrical parabolic reflector, then we could talk about a hot spot. I've seen solar ovens made from mylar and a satelite dish before (i wouldn't recommend putting a foil lined dish in your room anyway... pointless) your walls should be relatively flat.
I do like using the mylar lined bubblewrap used for auto sunshades and insulation. The bubbles act like little dimples to diffuse the light (like the dimples on your reflector)
If you have a perfectly spherical dish that you line with foil and make a perfectly symmetrical parabolic reflector, then we could talk about a hot spot. I've seen solar ovens made from mylar and a satelite dish before (i wouldn't recommend putting a foil lined dish in your room anyway... pointless) your walls should be relatively flat.
I do like using the mylar lined bubblewrap used for auto sunshades and insulation. The bubbles act like little dimples to diffuse the light (like the dimples on your reflector)
Undercover Cop
Active Member
Bump!
I want more people to read this and realize that it doesnt help to perpetuate stupid myths about foil and hotspots.
I want more people to read this and realize that it doesnt help to perpetuate stupid myths about foil and hotspots.
0calli
Well-Known Member
i just found this and saw this thought id post it
Ganja_Greg
so ive read hundreds of post talking about how aluminum foil creates hot spots for grow rooms etc it can burn your leaves so on and so forth WHATEVER!, now i would like to clear up somthing on this "rumor" , Aluminum foil can only creates hot spots if your using a HOT light like an HPS or somthing else , ppl have been growing forest's of weed for years using basic aluminum foil all you have to do is use the dull side not the shiney side and its a pretty cheap reflective material. as we all know you can hold a match to aluminum for 5 min and then take it off and it will be cool again in about 15 sec. The best lighting for Aluminum foil is probably CFL's seeing how they put out like hardly any heat. so next time you hear somone say OH DONT USE THAT! get it out of there! think twice if your using CFL's or any kind of Cool growing light.
This info coming from numerous RL friends who have been growing for decades with some of the best buds ive ever seen/smoked and personal exp.
Ganja_Greg
so ive read hundreds of post talking about how aluminum foil creates hot spots for grow rooms etc it can burn your leaves so on and so forth WHATEVER!, now i would like to clear up somthing on this "rumor" , Aluminum foil can only creates hot spots if your using a HOT light like an HPS or somthing else , ppl have been growing forest's of weed for years using basic aluminum foil all you have to do is use the dull side not the shiney side and its a pretty cheap reflective material. as we all know you can hold a match to aluminum for 5 min and then take it off and it will be cool again in about 15 sec. The best lighting for Aluminum foil is probably CFL's seeing how they put out like hardly any heat. so next time you hear somone say OH DONT USE THAT! get it out of there! think twice if your using CFL's or any kind of Cool growing light.
This info coming from numerous RL friends who have been growing for decades with some of the best buds ive ever seen/smoked and personal exp.
scroglodyte
Well-Known Member
emergency blankets tacked up
Undercover Cop
Active Member
Wow, that post stands in pretty stark contrast to an earlier post of yours...
While the posting you quoted was partially correct, Ill quote myself just incase we missed it...
I dont know how else I can put it to make it more clear. If you are making a tent out of aluminum foil or completely line your box and dont have sufficient ventilation, then it may be possible for heat to build up which could cause the heat stress (which would happen in any environment with insufficient ventilation for the heat made by your lighting) Otherwise, if you have heat issues it will NOT be due to the foil.
I'd put money that in MJ Growing history long long ago, some know it all noob put up foil then suffered a deficiency soon after, and assuming the crispy leaves were heat stress concluded that it MUST have been from the aluminum foil making hot spots since they put the stuff in ovens and it can get really hot... I would not be the least bit supprised to find out that he then jumped online and posted all over the internet about how bad foil was and with a slight exageration of his growing experience, got a million other noobs to spread the myth based on his experience...
Foil is admittedly not the best, but will not hurt the plants in anyway. And when the amount of light that you can get onto your plants is directly related to the final quality/yield of your harvest, it would be unwise not to use foil if you have no other form of reflective surface to help scavenge the light you provide. The average grower will never come close the the amount/intensity of light the sun can provide, and you need to do whatever you can to get as many of the photons emitted from your lights onto your foliage before their energy is dissipated... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law Distance from the lights to the foliage is key, and if the lights arent burning your leaves at their given distance from the canopy, light that is reflected off foil (which will have traveled further than light directly from the bulb, as you have the distance from bulb to the foil then from the foil to the foliage, which I have to assume will be a longer distance traveled simply because I cannot picture a situation where it would be shorter for the light to hit the foil first then the leaves vs straight from the bulb... make sense?) that light will have substantially less energy after distance and refraction/reflection off the foil and will not be more powerful or able to scorch the foliage. Its nonsense.
ugh Im babbling, point is dont believe the hype, try it yourself and learn for yourself before believing illogical myths.
Oh btw, the reflector surfaces that come with most commercially available reflectors/cooltubes/batwings etc... highly polished and dimpled, ALUMINUM. the reflective surfaces inserted into air cooled hoods and HPS reflectors 1000w and UP... ALUMINUM, highly polished ALUMINUM. use the shiny side of your foil, and laugh at the idiots who will follow blindly without really thinking about what they're doing.
EmilyRose, sorry for hijacking your thread, I just didnt like when you asked for help doing something, and the haters popped in to tell you why their way is best. This myth has been perpetuated for too long, I want someone with real experience (documented so I can know you're not a big talking teenager growing under your bed in a shoe box) to show/explain to me how their leaves were scorched from light reflected off aluminum foil lined walls, and not from the bulb itself.
