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400 Watt HID too powerful for seedlings?
- Thread starter Ekras
- Start date
i put seedlings under a 400w hps once, then 2 days later i kicked myself when they just stretched massively because i had the light 5 feet away so it wasnt so intense. Lesson learned, save your money on electricity, put em under flos for a week min, even 2 is ok. then put the 400 on em, and slowly bring it down over a few days so you dont burn the plant by putting it 6 inches away right away.
G
Guest
to answer your question...no the 400 is not to bright to grow a seed under...guess how many lumens the sun is...a 400 is not shit mang...and cannabis been growing long before we brought it indoors...peace
G
Guest
Well, direct outside daylight in the summertime averages somewhere in the neighbourhood of 10,000 foot candles. This is equal to 10,000 lumens per square foot.
I have done this same mistake when i first started. i would agree you can grow seedlings under hid lights but all the times i have done it i have put up with stretching, light bending and a longer veg time. i would kepp them under fluro's for a week or two then throw them into the HID room. but if you start under HID lights then have good circulation.
causal grower
Member
a 400 is only ok if you can keep it close AND cool enough. i usually do 20-28" from the top of seedlings and have to maintain steady low temps though. circulation, as previously mentioned is a must.
also, small size seedling pots will lose water VERY quickly if their soil surface (or if not even perhaps) is exposed to the radiant energy (heat) of a close 400w light.
so auto watering is almost necessary, imo, for my peace of mind at least.
damn they'll grow quick and big though.
also, small size seedling pots will lose water VERY quickly if their soil surface (or if not even perhaps) is exposed to the radiant energy (heat) of a close 400w light.
so auto watering is almost necessary, imo, for my peace of mind at least.
damn they'll grow quick and big though.
may i suggest a cheaper way to veg a few plants compact flurecents cfl's
you can get the light close as 1 inch n/p i like 3 inch recomended is 1-4inch above plants tops. some ppl hate on cfls but personally i love em, i get mad mad growth veggn with cfl's. heres an example in the pic is 2 light fixtures from walmart they had a aluminum reflector on which i removed. i purchased a 3 adaptor that screws into the light socket it hold 2 bulbs. each fixture has
1 - 45w=150@2900 lumens warm bulb
1 - 25w=100w @1470 lumens daylight
just added a 150w hps security light
this provides a great mixed color spectrum i have a total of 205 w in cfl i can use over the veg erea + the 150w hps. i program my timer for 18 hrs on 6 off lighting and dont worry but the watering and love they need. i can have clones ready for flower in 7-10 days then off to the 400w cab
you can get the light close as 1 inch n/p i like 3 inch recomended is 1-4inch above plants tops. some ppl hate on cfls but personally i love em, i get mad mad growth veggn with cfl's. heres an example in the pic is 2 light fixtures from walmart they had a aluminum reflector on which i removed. i purchased a 3 adaptor that screws into the light socket it hold 2 bulbs. each fixture has
1 - 45w=150@2900 lumens warm bulb
1 - 25w=100w @1470 lumens daylight
just added a 150w hps security light
this provides a great mixed color spectrum i have a total of 205 w in cfl i can use over the veg erea + the 150w hps. i program my timer for 18 hrs on 6 off lighting and dont worry but the watering and love they need. i can have clones ready for flower in 7-10 days then off to the 400w cab
G
Guest
As the man said above....the sun is WAY WAY WAY brighter than any 400Watt light will ever be.
My grow is in Day 58 of flower. They vegged 33 days. At NO TIME, including when seedlings just sprouted, has my light ever been more than 12 inches from my plants. In fact, most of the time it has been closer to 8 or 9 inches. One of the tops is 6 inches from glass now. The other 3 are 10, 8, 8 inches away.
HEAT and/or poor ventilation are the enemy. You cannot possibly have too much light...ever. Stretching comes from inadequate light and/or wrong light spectrum. The plants want to stretch because they are seeking more light. They wanna be closer to the light source. They WANT to grow. They WANT light. LOTS of it. Give it to them.
The better you ventilate your grow and get rid of heat, the closer you can have your light. If your light doesn't have a heat absorbing glass, get one. They help a lot buy absorbing infrared radiation which your plant doesn't need anyway to grow. My grow has stayed between high 60's and low 80's since day one. Humidity between 35-50%. A lot of that is luck in my local climate....but some of us have to be lucky sometimes
Good luck to all of you and may your grow give you HUGE DANK buds
Obli
Day 51 Flower. That cola on the right rear is 6 inches from light.
My grow is in Day 58 of flower. They vegged 33 days. At NO TIME, including when seedlings just sprouted, has my light ever been more than 12 inches from my plants. In fact, most of the time it has been closer to 8 or 9 inches. One of the tops is 6 inches from glass now. The other 3 are 10, 8, 8 inches away.
HEAT and/or poor ventilation are the enemy. You cannot possibly have too much light...ever. Stretching comes from inadequate light and/or wrong light spectrum. The plants want to stretch because they are seeking more light. They wanna be closer to the light source. They WANT to grow. They WANT light. LOTS of it. Give it to them.
The better you ventilate your grow and get rid of heat, the closer you can have your light. If your light doesn't have a heat absorbing glass, get one. They help a lot buy absorbing infrared radiation which your plant doesn't need anyway to grow. My grow has stayed between high 60's and low 80's since day one. Humidity between 35-50%. A lot of that is luck in my local climate....but some of us have to be lucky sometimes
Good luck to all of you and may your grow give you HUGE DANK buds
Obli
Day 51 Flower. That cola on the right rear is 6 inches from light.
G
Guest
Major Pothead:
I'm liking CFLs to veg with too. I through together this veg chamber with a 35 gallon rubbermaid tote. I lined the inside with white sticky kitchen shelf paper. I bought two white metal 4 bulb vanity fixtures for $15.00/ea. I bolted them to the tote top with toggles. Eight 23W CFL's give me about 11,000 lumens in there. 1/2 cool white 1/2 warm. I made the tote top's wood support out of 2x2 and 1x2 scrap wood. Add a fan. The tote holds 12 of those black 5 1/2 inch square nursery pots PERFECTLY. This pic is old but my 12 plants are growing like mad in there.
I moved them closer to lights by putting stuff under them. I did the light support because i like GOOD ventilation at all times. The heat from the 8 23W CFL's is almost negligable. The plastic on the tote top above the light fixtures doesnt even get warm, let alone get hot. CFL's will work well for vegging.
I'm liking CFLs to veg with too. I through together this veg chamber with a 35 gallon rubbermaid tote. I lined the inside with white sticky kitchen shelf paper. I bought two white metal 4 bulb vanity fixtures for $15.00/ea. I bolted them to the tote top with toggles. Eight 23W CFL's give me about 11,000 lumens in there. 1/2 cool white 1/2 warm. I made the tote top's wood support out of 2x2 and 1x2 scrap wood. Add a fan. The tote holds 12 of those black 5 1/2 inch square nursery pots PERFECTLY. This pic is old but my 12 plants are growing like mad in there.
I moved them closer to lights by putting stuff under them. I did the light support because i like GOOD ventilation at all times. The heat from the 8 23W CFL's is almost negligable. The plastic on the tote top above the light fixtures doesnt even get warm, let alone get hot. CFL's will work well for vegging.
Dick Stallion
Member
Damn man you started 3 separate threads asking almost the exact same thing....and then you dont even come in and say thank you to all the people who typed out huge explanations to help you.
Obviously with your seedlings being half an inch tall after 2 weeks of vegging, you have much more to worry about than your lights.
Obviously with your seedlings being half an inch tall after 2 weeks of vegging, you have much more to worry about than your lights.
Truth
Member
I think starting seeds off under HiD or even better, constant direct sunlight is best(saves energy use too). Floro's are helpful, but the more light you give them at the start, the better off they will be. with floro's, plants like to keep their leafs small, while under HID, you can notice considerable growth and much larger leafs, and stems early on. you can put any strength of light on any plants, as long as the temp and humidity is within limits. look around or try it yourself.
A 3 week veg under strictly HID will always be larger than a plant grown under floro's for the first week or two of veg. some people set themselves back, because they grow under floro's first for weeks, until they decide they are big enough for the HID, but all they are doing is keeping them smaller for longer. Some people think they are just wasting light, but the electricity cost for a few HID lights in early veg wouldn't be much, and would be worth the gains. if you run multiple HID's and are growing more than a few plants, it would be worth it to start off as many seedlings as you can under one (or how ever many it takes), just 'crowd' them in there and space them out as needed, add more light as needed.
A 3 week veg under strictly HID will always be larger than a plant grown under floro's for the first week or two of veg. some people set themselves back, because they grow under floro's first for weeks, until they decide they are big enough for the HID, but all they are doing is keeping them smaller for longer. Some people think they are just wasting light, but the electricity cost for a few HID lights in early veg wouldn't be much, and would be worth the gains. if you run multiple HID's and are growing more than a few plants, it would be worth it to start off as many seedlings as you can under one (or how ever many it takes), just 'crowd' them in there and space them out as needed, add more light as needed.
