Growing seedlings under lights

[cheebafan]

Hi all, just a quick question regarding early growth.

 

WE are beginners and are about to embark on our first real grow from seed indoors.

 

Here's our setup:

 

we have a 400 w hanging above a bathtub/shower, and the entire shower/bath is enclosed in white reflective sheeting. There is an exhaust fan in the roof of the room (which works alright) and a small desk fan in the grow area sitting on edge of bath. We are planning to use perlite, which we are using now but are planning on getting an easy to use automatic system. any recommendations there would also be appreciated.

 

But my major query was this, once our seeds have germinated, what is the best way to grow them under a 400 watt light without killing the seedlings?

[pipeman]

just keep that light at least a metre away from those seedlings until they got a couple of nodes, then you can gradually drop it to correct height which should be about 450mm. use back of hand method to determine best light distance.

 

in terms of easy watering systems you could try an autopot valve. It lets your medium run dry before watering again, so it allows an automatic wet/dry cycle depending how fast your plants suck up water. Or you could simply have a res. with a pump on a timer that pumps into a dripper system periodically. Like three times every light cycle.

[Mr Putard]

i reckon netpots filled with coco cior and those tropf blumat adjustable drippers... seen em at hydro shops and they look really good.. very little if no runoff waste from it..