I have a quik question for the advanced growers that have a few more successful grows under their belts than the rest of us blades. My dilema is that of a lighting issue in failure to be completely ready for my grow. I only have a 400w Hps/Mh Light. Although its vented, i am worried that during the first 2 weeks of my germed seeds growth it will be a little too much for the poor gals. Someone had brought this to my attention earlier and said i should use 4' 6500k shoplights or florescents. I was just wondering how true this is, and its quite critical i find out fast because my allready some of my seeds have began breaking through. I just need to kno if ill be allrite with my current lighting. And how far i should position my light up due to stretching / burning. I am predicting i will have my seeds in soil by tomorrow once i figure out this question and another i have regarding if its wise to start seeds before others are ready.. I have a thread up and ill post the link for everyone who wants to give a helping hand to the other question. Thread here: (all info regarding my seeds) http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/536036-planting-germed-seeds.html Thanks guys.
Definitely use a couple 23w CFLs (daylight color/6500K) for seedlings. Not only is a 400w light too much, it would be a waste of electricity. Put your CFLs about 5-10" above your seedlings. You would probably only need like 2 for about 5 seedlings. When they get about 2-3 leaf sets, you could put them about 2 feet or so below the 400w mh.
ok man thanks i apprecaitur input, also do you kno if its ok if my germing seeds exceed the temp of 85 degrees F. I have my seeds in paper towels and in bags and they have been doing good for the past 2 days, i think something like 8/20 have allready sprouted through. i put the container in a cubby above my laptop and the temp got a lot hotter toda ythan usual cuz i left my laptop on by accident. the temp went up to about 85'sh degrees F. would that do any damage to the seeds or would it actually speed up ther process?
Hey man, I'm still fairly new to growing however I use a 600 watter from sprout and I haven't had any problems. I think the problem with HID lights is heat just make sure to keep temps under control.
Well i got a vented reflector and a inline duct fan, it keeps it very cool but i still would like to have a 4 foot flourescent, all i have is cool white bulbs would them work?
Cool white is perfect , 400 MH is better. I don't know why people spread bad info like that. For real , seeds start under the freaking sun... a 400watt is NOTHING compared to the great outdoors. use the 400 man , if it's too late and you already got your t5's , toss thoses bitches in there too. more the better.
I agree with you there, i figured id be allrite but i got turned off on the thought by a few ppl telling me they would burn / stretch... how do you start your seeds? I just wanna use the t12 cool white bulbs for the first 2 weeks then switch to mh... idk i appreciate your guidance tho man.
I start my seeds paper towel method , planting BEFORE the Tap appears , right after the seeds crack. I have a 8 tube T5 fixture I use for mother/clone etc , I start them there. If I did not have a veg room , I would use an HPS But I don't grow from seeds , I'm a big fan of clones. My Siggy has a grow from about 4 years back showing some seeds starting in cups under our 400watter. Our Current grow is under the name Sugarfactory.
Bad info? Just because seeds start under the sun doesn't mean they NEED to. Seedlings do not NEED a 400w light to get started. A couple cheap and efficient CFLs is all they need. Less heat, less money. Im not sure how that is bad info...
I looked over your thread man, your plants ended up commin out pretty good. id imagine troubleshootin could only make em better. yeah im gunna go with T12 lights / cool white / 30 or 40w i believe. 2 of them.
It's not bad info if explained correctly , some people are saying it's BAD to use a 400w , Bad and unnessesary are two different things. The more Light and lumen output the faster your water uptake. The faster your plants use water the higher thier metabolism. Obviously , a faster metabolism means faster growth. lets not get confused =) Saying a 400w is "too Much" as you have is bad info. Maybe you should edit your post to saying not required.
I think the only person who is confused here is you Where I come from, too much=more than necessary/unnecessary.