Quick ?

[gilly]

hey guys need a quick answer to a ?

 

is it ok to have my 400 hps on a seed that has just poped up out of the grow wool. im having troubles trying to keep them warm. so i thought that the 400 hps would keep them a bit warmer . ive moved the light further away so it doesnt burn them . any help would be grateful .i have a purple fluoro but it doesnt seem to be warmer enough in there

 

 

cheers .

[Tom]

You can use the 400w, but keep it at least 3 feet above the seedling(s), a humidity dome would be an advantage too.

 

[Lucian]

Dont do what i just did , i was told 2-3 feet , but seeing as i had an air cooled 600w HPS light i thought i would use the back of the hand test , (BAD) so i put my seedlings at 1 foot from the light , needless to say i ccoked them and i only have 1left out of 4 .

[Luke Skywalker]

For Lucian - a 600w lamp puts out an awful lot of light and heat. Even with an air cooled hood you'd be asking for trouble if you put it a foot away from freshly popped seedlings.

 

For gilly - yes, your lamp will likely keep things warm, but don't draw it too close. If you do decide to move the lamp closer, do it over a few days or even longer, to give the plants time to adapt to the new circumstances.

 

I'd say yeah, get yourself a humidicrib if you haven't already done so, and continue germination under that with the 400w at about a meter away. It sounds like a lot, but it's a very strong light for little seedlings. The humidicrib is there to help keep the seedlings atmosphere humid whilst they germinate, but don't keep it on for too long. And don't leave all the vents closed too long either. It's a hardening off excercise, you're slowly getting them used to their growing space, and they'll react badly to sudden changes, either way. Too much humidity will encourage stem rot, too little will dessicate the poor plants...

 

So yeah, slowly open the individual air vents on the crib over a few days, as the seedlings emerge, and you could also at the same time slowly lower the light as they settle in. You'll be well advised to pick up a thermometer/hygrometer to help in positioning your plants, lights and working out what you need to provide for them.

 

Keep the moisture up to the seedlings, but never overwater them. As they develop they like an even amount of moisture in their pots/roots but if you have too much you'll drown them. Too little in these early stages and you will also just as easily starve them of water, but it's fairly easy to make sure they're well maintained. Try and keep it a nice, warm but not hot, moist but not clammy atmosphere, and then once established and growing, you can transplant and grow on from there like mad!

 

Hope that helps, check out the growing faq in my signature as well, there should be something on germination in there for ya too.

[gilly]

cheers guys thats all i needed to know.

[Tom]

No worries mate, that's what this site is about.