Can growing lamps efficiency be increased with reflective materials? If so which ones would be best?
Depends on how high the light is up off the plant, and where that light is going to other than the plant. It is possible to increase the efficiency (slightly) of any light by having a reflective material. For instance florescent light fixtures are white at the top to reflect the ‘wasted’ light back down into the space that one wants lighted. For my starter area in the kitchen, I use tube type grow lamps, along the outside edge (one side is the kitchen window) I have used 12″ mirror tiles on a sheet of plywood hanging slightly lower and tilted at about 30 degrees to where the top is about 4 inches from the light out (into the kitchen) and about 6 inches below the light. This collects and bounces the ‘wasted’ light or the light that is just going into the kitchen back down to the trays. In the front of my house (where we have desks, couch, TV, computers, blah) I have a nook with yet another growing place – this one is year round for house plants and has a built in cabinet. I have constru
