As any grower can testify, light directly affects yield. Reflector maintenance is an essential part of the overall light output of your grow lights!
You’ve spent a lot of time buying, installing, and maintaining the best bulbs and the best reflectors. After all, DimLux has both!
Understanding this, we all go to great lengths to buy par meters, measuring the PPF coming out of our bulbs.
And we spend good money replacing bulbs frequently to make sure the light is optimized.
What is often overlooked is the reflector. It’s obvious when I write about it here, but we often forget about that part of the equation. Reflector maintenance plays a vital role in the quality and strength of light going to the canopy.
Growers often go multiple harvests without ever considering their reflectors may be losing reflectivity.
Cleaning
An easy way to get more light from your bulb to your plants is simply by properly cleaning your reflector between harvests.
Depending on your room environment, there will probably be a layer of stuff on your reflector. This is dust in the air or spray residue that collects there.
The dirt on a reflector can decrease the quality of light by as much as 20%.
With such light loss the crop will inevitably yield diminishing returns, and nobody one wants that.
How to clean a MIRO Silver Reflector
- Use a 50/50 mix of 70% isopropyl alcohol and RO (Reverse Osmosis) water or bottled water.
- Do NOT use tap water as it can contain unknown minerals or substances. This will scratch the fine mirrored, Miro Silver Aluminum, surface or leave a residue behind.
- Make sure you use a microfiber cloth. Do not use paper towels or a bath towel as these will scratch the fine mirrored surface.
- If after wiping the reflector with solution there is still leftover residue, use another microfiber towel with just a little RO water to remove remaining residue off.
- In case of heavy dirt build up you may have to do this process a few times to get the reflector back to a clean surface.
- Be sure to be gentle and take your time. This is a delicate process and needs to be done carefully. Remember a clean reflector will directly affect your plants health and vigor.
- Make sure to check your reflector’s cleanliness every time you complete a harvest. You might be amazed how quickly they can gather dirt and dust. All types of foreign matter that can build up on your reflector.
Replacement
Even with proper reflector maintenance all reflectors degrade over time.
Depending on the wear and tear and cleanliness of your grow room, replacing the reflectors is eventually a good idea.
That can range anywhere between 12 months or more – it depends on your maintenance regiment.
Replacement reflectors are a cost-effective way to keep your light maximized without having to replace an entire fixture.
Reflectors are available for sale through all DimLux retailers. Click here for replacement instructions.
Happy Growing!