You should paint everything white that is not already white or shiny.

In a perfectly reflective chamber, all wavelengths of light are completely absorbed by plants. You should try to approximate this ideal model.

everything inside is already white, except the component panel but its way too much work to take everything down and my plants probably wont reach that high up anyway.

"everything inside is already white, except the component panel but its way too much work to take everything down and my plants probably wont reach that high up anyway."

That's not true and the height of your plants do not matter. I see black power cords, black ties, brown pegboard, purple ballast and black containers on the floor. BTW, the ballast should be outside the chamber.

oh.. outside the chamber eh? i will do that tonight then. it just looks so pretty having everything inside. lol

i have never seen anyone paint their black containers or their black power cords or an anodized ballast (wouldnt that affect heat dissipation?).

I've heard of painting pots white. Some manufacturers started a long time ago making them of white plastic. I would consider this a goal for a later crop, though. Lot's of people grow just fine without a reflective tent. I do.

Ballasts are generally kept outside because of heat. The heat control isn't just for the plants. It affects the life of the ballast. Does it seem to get pretty warm in there?

If you are super concerned about maximum reflection: An alternative to painting things is to cover with some reflective mylar (without touching it to objects that get hot) or put a false ceiling of slick vinyl like what you can buy at the home improvement stores for shower stalls. I've seen setups with reflective tape on the cords. How about aluminum foil on cardboard or posterboard? Aluminum foil won't radiate heat, either, so it makes a good shield between a heat source and something you don't want heated too much. It does, however, conduct heat.

The reason it doesn't matter if your plants reach that high up is based on the fact that the light is expected to bounce off one surface and then another until it finally does reach the plant. If struwwelpeter has a study or resource to cite to show us all the benefits of painting all surfaces or at least providing maximum reflection, I'd love to see it. I'm pretty certain at least one is out there. I read about one over a year ago in one of the trade mags, but I can't for the life of me remember what one or who did the study or even if it was just a marketing article. I bought a tent just like that, but haven't assembled it yet. I bought it because I have cats that seem to find pepper and tomato plants indoors to be cat trees.

After all I just typed, I still think your set-up looks great. I'd move the ballast if the heat goes above 85F, but otherwise it looks much neater than any set-up I've ever had.

Oh my gosh!!! Struwwelpeter typed that while I was typing my response or I would have typed this first.

This website sure is a magnet for people that get upset if you question their advice.

I don't care who out there finds this response to be "banter" that is "inappropriate". To allow a jerk to act like that without calling them on it is equal to condoning it and I simply can't do so in good conscience (in case that wasn't clear with another aggressor recently). That response was totally rude and uncalled for. There is no reason to insult someone's intelligence for asking what I consider perfectly legit questions or for challenging advice in a civil manner.

Chinamon, you weren't being hypocritical just for not blindly following advice. You were being smart. Always follow lines of inquiry before making major changes. Especially on the advice of a stranger. And I hope you don't take that person's post to heart at all.

struwwelpeter, you need to drop your attitude. there is nothing wrong with me commenting or questioning your advice just like there is nothing wrong with you giving me advice. stop thinking that you are the God of Gardening.

Well, I will try to stay out of argument like this, but struwwelpeter, maybe Chinamon was not being sarcastic. Maybe he literally meant that he had never seen anyone painted their containers or power cords. It could be just a neutral statement.

Electronic communication can often cause misunderstanding because sometimes we do not know if someone is stating a plain fact or is being sarcastic.

I think you should just move the hole peg board outside the chameber (just rotate it 180°). I would not paint or tape the chords. I might. . .might, if I'm feeling particularly industrious, put some aluminum foil over the top of the pots (with a hole cut out in the middle, of course). Other than that, I think you'd be going over the top for no appreciable gain.

struwwelpeter, maybe Chinamon was not being sarcastic. Maybe he literally meant that he had never seen anyone painted their containers or power cords.

Not that; This was the sarcasm:

oh.. outside the chamber eh? i will do that tonight then. it just looks so pretty having everything inside. lol

If you think that wasn't sarcasm, just ask Chinamon if he moved the ballast outside last night.

chinamon that set up is great I have a similar tent but only 6 X 4ft t-5's running right now as i am only doing some dwc basil and my cashola is limited.. hows the 400 hps working out i am terrible about needing x wanted y and getting z and ending up with over kill i have a 4x4x7 sun hut and would like to do a 600 but think 400 is more than sufficient.. also where did you get your bucket system? i am using a tub that is like long and flat and i have 6 plants on it.. it worked while my basil was young but now i am seeing some difficulties with res. changing and root expantion... any help here would be appriciated..
on the other topic in this thread i see the comment as the "Doh!" remark as mentioned earlier... I am sure we have all made some errors or just random mistakes over thinking or deckin out our gardens... it happens chinamon just happens to have the guts to do it up .. take a pic .. and ask for advice.. i think your system is nice and i don't think youll see much varience in your yields from whiting out everything... the majority of your room is extra reflective and beyond that its a hobby right?

peace and info on the buckets would be cool..

from what i've read a 400w should be enough for a 4x4 growing space. it is working out very well for me. plants are very healthy and i change the water once a week.

i bought my buckets, lids and net pots from a local hydroponics store. i cut the holes in the lids with a dremel for the net pots and drilled a small hole for the air tube. i also went to home depot and bought elbows and clear tubing for the outside of each bucket so i can see the water level without lifting the lid.

chinamon have you noticed a problem with keeping heat down? I'm looking to purchase a tent like this but have heard that heat is always a problem.

johnny, yes. i had the vortex 4" fan but it made this room (my office/computer room) very hot. i thought about venting the exhaust out a small window but that would not be very good over the winter as it would draw a lot of the house's heat outside (which would make my furnace run a lot more than it should). i ended up keeping the tent unzipped fully and put my naga jolokia pepper (in soil) just outside the tent.

hey chinamon... hows the plants doing? if your thai basil is anything like mine its going nuts! all my hydroponic basil is out of control and i am lovin' it!

why did you you go soil with the naga jolokia? I am thinking about doing a few habs and a nj later this winter once i invest in the hps...

some updated pics would be fantastic!

cheers

my main naga plant is in soil because that was the very first seed that i planted. i was planning to grow everything indoors with soil but then started researching about hydroponics so the rest of my plants are in DWC buckets. i will be keeping the soil naga as the mother and just clone from it. i do have one naga clone in DWC right now and i have another that is being rooted in rockwool.

i just took some pics for you...

here is the entire tent
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here is my naga in soil
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here are the DWC buckets
left to right: basil, two golden habanero, naga
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looks great! thanks for the update