Quick question about mylar

Hey guy's and gal's

My question is, does mylar need to be applied perfectly straight? I just finished stapling it in my grow room and have some bubbles and waves and such. All corners and edges where duct taped so light can't escape between pieces.

Is this OK or does it have to be smooth with out wrinkles and such.

Thanks.

Its fine, not rocket science. Did you put a bit of duct tape on & staple through it to keep it from ripping?

GreatwhiteNorth said:

Its fine, not rocket science. Did you put a bit of duct tape on & staple through it to keep it from ripping?

Click to expand...

Yeah, along corners and where I joined pieces. Thanks, I was worried maybe it would reduce the amount of light hitting the plants, with the wrinkles and such.

Im happy to be corrected here if anyone has tried this and you’re right GWN it is not rocket science but when I first applied mylar in my grow area (mid way through heavy veg of a 4” tall SOG canopy) there were many bulged spots throughout as I had not yet secured the bottom of it, only the top. When I put my room fans on it made the mylar flap around a bit, I held the bottom of one section down so it stopped and could see clearly the exact area where the reflected light would fall on growth below the canopy. When I let go of the bottom and let it flap around again the area of the reflected light on the lower leaves was substantially increased as the flapping mylar reflected the light constantly at different angles so parts of the under-canopy which normally did not receive light now did. I left the mylar unsecured on the bottom so it still flaps around a bit and in the weeks that have passed the under-canopy has become very thick with no sign at all of dead or yellowing leaves due to low light.
I don’t know if the under-canopy growth would have come on anyway or if it would be as thick and healthy. I will secure the mylar on the next grow and note the difference but I do now have more substantial budding below the canopy instead of the little popcorn buds you normally get.
I have read plenty of times before that mylar must be applied flat to avoid hot spots which is fair enough if it doesn’t flap around like mine does but if you can also get good lower growth by doing this then I’m happy to let it flap around. It does make some noise of course so probably not so good for those where any noise or WAF is a concern.

I'm sure that uneven lighting is a factor, but I've spent hours applying the stuff trying to get it exactly straight & to no avail. Problem is I'm your classic type A & things have to be just so & that fucking stuff will drive me nuts. The method I've settled on is to hit both the top corners, then fasten a bottom corner. The last corner is the one that makes the most difference, I just pull it taut while watching the whole sheet for straightness - when she's flat I jam a staple in there & viola.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, I was getting frustrated just thinking about it.
GWN

do it right so you only do it once. get as straight flat and tight as possible