Sunlight quality.

Does reflected sunlight have the same quality as direct sunlight? If I positioned a mirror to bounce sunlight into a dark corner would the plants benefit from the light as if they were in direct sunlight or is quality lost in the reflection process?

 

Interesting question Who am I?

I’ve always thought it does but let’s see what other folk think

I used aluminium foil against a sunny wall to reflect sunlight onto a dark spot.....seemed to work. Also for a grass area many moons ago that suffered from too much shade. Again, it seemed effective

 

I did try the mirror idea, but was frightened that the birds would fly into it.

 

@Who am I? Yes the "quality" of the reflected light will be pretty much the same; the mirror will reflect the vast majority of the light. Even painting a wall white will improve the situation.
If you are worried about birds flying into it you can buy some stick on bird silhouettes that people use on large windows to deter birds. For example https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bird-Scarer-Sticker-Window-Protection/dp/B01CK43VB8

 

Only downside I can see is you will have to move the mirror all the time in order to track the movement of the sun
I've got some dark areas under the benches in my greenhouse and I put old mirrors behind the plants to reflect back some light, it its not direct light and I'm not really sure it makes much difference.

 

Reflected sunlite loses various benefits in the process. It may well appear to be OK, if a simple, capturing the sunlight onto a mirror screen. However the natural rays of the sun contains so many element. The sun emits not only heat and light, but also much important rays that are so beneficial to life and the life of plants.

In the natural world. The sun is such a fundamental part. The sun is a storehouse of energy. In short. It's rays provide us with light. It's rays provide so so much more. Within the suns rays are ulta violet rays or consituents. These are well known to sunbathers. These UV rays can kill. The sun's rays also contain numouse energising means of conversion. All of this will ony suceed by direct sunlight.
In the case of reflect sunlight etc. In truth. A REFLECTED FORCE simply becomes an image. Try it out. Stand in front of a mirror. Point, touch do what you like. You remain an image.

 

@Who am I? Most polycarbonate greenhouses, as the likes of mine, have UV blocking qualities. So that business of them being useful to plants is nonsense.

I cannot imagine why the inside of grow tents are made of reflective material if it was not of great benefit. Mine reflect the LED lighting and for some reason the plants do well with it. If this reflective lighting was of no use, people would make these tents out of cardboard! And believe you me, those weed growers know their business!

So, here's my advice. Try it. What have you got to lose? I can assure you that for the past few years, it works well for me.

 

Chlorophyll absorbs light in the blue and red regions of the visible spectrum. Which is why plants appear green. Reflected light loses some of it's intensity simply because the light source is further away but on a garden scale this is minimal.
A lot of old lean to greenhouses, vineries etc had the back wall white washed for this very reason.
Anything that increases the amount of visible light reaching a plant will be beneficial, be that aluminium foil, white paint or a mirror.
Downside of mirrors in the garden is 7years bad luck when broken.

 

Thank you all for these replies. Really informative.
"Downside of mirrors in the garden is 7 years bad luck when broken".
I still have 3 years to run on the last one!

 

was frightened that the birds would fly into it.