Hey, I would have your 600w atleast 2-3 ft away when they are just getting out of the soil.. 12inch would burn them to death exsp... without a cooltube.. Also I would have started them in a dome with root starters then into soil.. Then they wouldn't have to deal with soil having stuff in it and possibly burning them again.. Also with the 600w you could get 20+ autos under it with 7inch pots.. Ive seen 46 under 1 600w cool tube.. They all get around a zip.. JMO.. But GL