Mylar Upgrade

[MrFlyTrap2]

Well I found a local source of some very cheap Mylar... So here is my first upgrade to my plant shelf. This has to be 1mil thickness (or less) it's pretty difficult to work with, and the section that went up in the back I actually crumpled up as scrap. The original plan was to use wooden sheets to give a stiff backing for the mylar, but it's Sunday, cold out, impatient and tired so I just wanted to see how the scrap peice looked.

So far I'm happy with how it looks and want to see how the plants react to the upgrade.
Before pic...

A comparison between my two sets of lights, one with a Mylar reflection on the back, the other just the fixture. I really couldn't see a visible difference. But there is a heat difference on the shelf now.

Remember this is just my quick fix to see how the light difference would be, I might tidy this up later.
After photos...

Next step, add sliding glass doors to the shelf so can let the Nepenthes have some room to grow!

-Nate

 

[ChronoKiento]

That's a neat setup you've got there!

I think when I get some mylar I'm going to glue it to postarboard and attach it to the sides of my shelf, that way it's not going to get worn by it being moved around a lot, y'know?

 

[MrFlyTrap2]

That was my plan too, and I might still redo it. But actually once I got the material in place, it became very stationary. So I'm kinda 50 - 50 if I want to redo it.

The material that I have is very very thin, so even afixing it to a board would still have wrinkles in it. (keep in mind my peice was crumpled into a ball once I realized my glue to wood wasn't working out as planned, but given a second chance when I cooled down)

So who knows.

-Nate

 

[pingman]

2 mil is much better. I have a roll of it and it doesnt crumple up like 1 mil.
you can buy at many Hydroponic stores
Peter

 

[ChronoKiento]

I'd rather work with poster board since it's easier to move around, just a big square really. Also I think the thicker it is the more expensive it is. I had a hard enough time trying to find 1mil so I'm not even going to try 2mil. xD