where can i get plastic, reflective (like foil) bags?

[nonlinear]

we are doing some experiments and need bags that 1) reflect incident radiation (like foil) and 2) prevent diffusion of gas/water vapor (like plastic).

does anyone know where i could find bags like this in calgary? basically we need plastic reflective bags.

thanks :thumbsup:

[gretz]

IIRC canadian tire has (or used to) those "thermal" solar blankets for camping...

[nonlinear]

yea, not sure that would work. we are putting these on plant leaves, so they need to be very thin and light. basically, something like a sandwich bag that is opaque and reflective. i think i've seen candy and stuff like that in such bags, but i don't know where to get them.

[dr_jared88]

Originally posted by nonlinear
yea, not sure that would work. we are putting these on plant leaves, so they need to be very thin and light. basically, something like a sandwich bag that is opaque and reflective. i think i've seen candy and stuff like that in such bags, but i don't know where to get them.

Like an anti-static bag?

[nonlinear]

^yea kind of, except those are translucent and we need to block all the radiation (light and heat) from entering the bag and hitting the leaves.

[nonlinear]

something like this would work: http://www.uline.ca/BL_5552/Food-Bags?keywords=foil%2520bags

anyone know of a local source?

[Mibz]

Dempster's bread.

[atgilchrist]

What about those silvery balloons you can get at grocery stores?

[zipdoa]

i'm interested in this horticultural experiment

[mycroftxxx]

take a potato chip bag and flip it inside out?
could even have 2, one small snack size one with the foil facing inwards and a large 250gram one with the foil facing outwards. the air in between would be your insulation.

/shrug just a thought

...dammit now I need me some doritos

[Jonel]

computer hard drives usually comes with those foils.

[nonlinear]

Originally posted by mycroftxxx
take a potato chip bag and flip it inside out?
could even have 2, one small snack size one with the foil facing inwards and a large 250gram one with the foil facing outwards. the air in between would be your insulation.

/shrug just a thought

i need hundreds of these bags, though, is the thing.

[Kritafo]

I am very curious about your experiment...please share what you are hoping to achieve.

[Kritafo]

Originally posted by nonlinear


i need hundreds of these bags, though, is the thing.

In all seriousness..school starts next week. If you are serious I would just call a high schools and see if you can get one of the environment clubs to collect them for you.

[Rat Fink]

.

[nonlinear]

haha, kritafo. i don't have time to get into it here, and believe me, none of you really want to know anyhow!

but this is a standard method for estimating plant stem water potential. basically the idea is to bag foliage just before dawn, when the stem and leaf water potentials are equal. once the sun comes up and the leaves start to transpire, they will become unequal. the bagging prevents transpiration so that the bagged leaf acts as a tensiometer so that you can put it in a pressure bomb and measure indirectly the xylem water potential. these types of bags are available, however i need them now - like yesterday - so can't wait for ups, etc.

and this is NOT for a grow op, as some of you may be thinking... the idea there is to ENCOURAGE transpiration, not prevent it haha.

[spike98]

Not sure exactly what your looking for but googling "non permeable foil insulation" gives 36,000 results

[AndyL]

All you really need for this is sheets of mylar and one of those nice heat sealers to seal your edges... Mylar - emergency blankets (or your local grow-op store for the heavier duty stuff);
heat sealer - probably some place like xcess cargo etc - will have those vacuum systems which contain one...

[mycroftxxx]

I think I saw some food storage things at mec you might be able to use... nothing I can see online except for the wine bags... hundreds of wine bags could get expensive however time is of the essence right?

http://reviews.mec.ca/9421-en_ca/5018-679/reviews.htm

[nonlinear]

just found a few packaging supply distributors i'm gonna try to call... if i can't find anything, i'm just gonna attach plastic bags with twist-ties, and then put aluminum foil around that, being very careful to get a good seal on the foil. that should work just as well, but it's gonna be a bigger pain in the ass. as if doing this just before dawn isn't a big enough pain as it is haha.

[Kritafo]

I would try the UFA, you never know what they might have!

Good luck.... we have had some unusual plant experiments in our own backyard. We built a solar heat sink for our backyard greenhouse. I have to say it does work brilliantly.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by mycroftxxx
take a potato chip bag and flip it inside out?



Originally posted by nonlinear

and this is NOT for a grow op, as some of you may be thinking... the idea there is to ENCOURAGE transpiration, not prevent it haha.

I was going to make a joke about a grow op, but then I realized if it were for that, you would have already tried the inside out dorito bag :rofl:

[nonlinear]

Originally posted by Kritafo
I would try the UFA, you never know what they might have!

hey kritafo, what is the UFA?



Originally posted by Tik-Tok

I was going to make a joke about a grow op, but then I realized if it were for that, you would have already tried the inside out dorito bag :rofl:

BAHAHAHAHHA :rofl:

totally, man!

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by nonlinear


hey kritafo, what is the UFA?



United Farmers Association. It's a store in the Manchester industrial area (not far from TuneDub if you know where they are).

They have a lot of useful stuff there.

[nonlinear]

just gave UFA a call, and she said they didn't carry them.

i can't believe there isn't a giant bag distributor in the city.

[BlackArcher101]

You want Mylar, otherwise called PET film. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PET_film_%28biaxially_oriented%29

You can get sheets of it at party stores. It's thin, shiney, and not translucent.

Here's one such store from a quick search.
http://pandamonia.ca/gradpricing.htm

Mylar Rolls 36" X 25' and larger (various colors) starting at
roll $18.99
Mylar Sheets 36" X 18" Sheets (variety of colors) each $1.09