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Tin foil reflectors

It' the middle of winter. The sun is low. I have some tiny VFTs in a pot that's a little too deep in the pot for them to get full sun exposure (they're in a south facing window). Some of their leaves get a bit of sun.

So here is my strategy. I've made little reflectors out of tinfoil and toothpicks. These reflect the sun back onto the plant. My worry is that the plant receives double sun exposure on a couple of leaves. With reflections coming off the surface of any standing water, would these plants not get a similar amount of light in the wild?

Since they are skipping dormancy, I'd like to get them as much "food" as possible.

Is this "over-parenting"? :0o:

Thanks in advance!

Adam

PS. I also have 3 X 40W CFL on them for 14+ hours a day. They drop down to 2-3" above them once daylight is gone. During daylight, the lighting is raised just enough for all sunbeams to get through.
 
Tin foil is not a very good reflector of light. "Double exposure" is not something that should cause concern. Various areas of plants get various amounts of light in nature.

Is this "over-parenting"? :0o:

Yes.

xvart.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I'm wondering if there is a way of getting too much sun on a plant. If the reflectors are not a danger, what about using a mirror all year round? Would you get double the growth?

Adam
 
Dionaea prefer full sun so too much light is probably not possible.

xvart.
 
I've always found tin foil is a decent light reflector.

The problem is you have a plant which is not fully dormant, but growing slowly through low light levels.

You've got two options - leave it until it perks up in spring or force it start growing properly with growlights.

Using tin foil at the moment will maybe just make it grow a little less slowly through it's semi-resting state. It would be pointless.
 
This time of year VFTs should be dormant. They don't need much light or heat while dormant and giving them too much will cause them to skip dormancy which will eventually weaken them.
 
Tin foil is an ok reflector but it creates hot spots which is bad for plants

Instead, get mylar or just use white paper
 
I do have 3 X 40W CFL an them aswell. They are tilted up a bit to let the sun in and after the sun goes down they are tilted down to about 2-3" above the plants till anywhere from 11 pm to 1 am.. they go on again at 7 am.
 
Did I miss the bit about the growlights in the first post?

Tin foil always worked well with my sarracenia seedlings under growlights.
 
  • #10
I just built a makeshift large reflector for my 105 watt 5000k CFL that I got in today. I used some plastic sign material as the base and then lined it with mirrored/reflective mylar from some calendars that we use at work. The mylar is like highly polished steel and almost the same quality as a mirror (much better than tin foil). It bends slightly easier than cardstock and is easily cut with scissors. Maybe you can buy some from a printing company or a local nursery. It shouldn't be too expensive. I think our calendars are only a dollar or so and they're at least 3 square feet or so if not more and are printed, not just the material. I've got the light in an adjustable arm lamp. I HAD to make a reflector because holy crap does this CFL light up my room! Luckily now it's confined to the corner shining on my VFTs and Purple Pitchers.

Here's a company that sells large amounts of it. http://www.hydroponics.net/c/54 It's not my company (I work for a Civil Engineering firm).
 
  • #11
how much was your CFL? And where do I get one???
 
  • #12
http://www.1000bulbs.com/105-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent/

I bought the first one on that list. There's a 6500k bulb on there too, but it's not quite as bright (6300 lumens). I opted for the brighter one since I've read that 5000k works fine. The only thing is they do seem to put off a decent amount of heat near the base of the bulb, but not so much further out. I rigged up a quiet 120mm computer fan to blow across the base/midsection of it as a precaution. I'd take a picture, but my camera seems to have taken a crap on me.

There are also tons of other lights on there as well. The only thing is it's like $9 minimum for shipping. You will probably also want to buy an extension adapter for the large CFLs since the base is so wide it won't fit into some fixtures. I had to have one.

I'm thinking now that some shelves near a window with some shop light style fixtures would be best, Unfortunately I don't have any shelves, nor do I really have the room for some. I've only got a dresser, so the adjustable arm lamp with a large custom reflector is what works for me.
 
  • #13
I'm going to be replacing this one for next winter: http://www.day-lights.com/product/index

The nice thing about it is that it is height adjustable and tiltable to any angle.

Although this one did bring the plants through the winter - it only has 3 X 36 Watt CFLs - the 4 plug flat style with 4 folds of tubes each. The plastic front is probably diminishing the intensity as well. They are getting south window day light just in case - although it's winter day light and it's cloudy here most of the time.

Sounds like I would be making a lamp with a Mylar-lined fixture. I'll have to see if there any such things out there. Should be better growing next year.

For now, spring is coming up to soon to bother.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Adam
 
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