how close to have light from plants

hi all im a new grower my set is the 10 pot willma drip feed using coco and rock wool mix
with a large dimond cut shade with a 600w sunmaster dual light 3ftx6ft room silver mylar covered 5 in carbon filter going into chimney clean air though vent germinated snow white seeds on papper took 24 hrs been potted 36hrs now frist shoots just started to come need to know how high should i have light from shoots and how much humidity to have cheers any help plz will add photos later

without CO2 you should have your light only close enough to your plants to replicate sunlight PAR level. Humidity under 70 % at all times minimum isn't critical really.

thanks for the fast reply think ill start at about 18in and keep eye on them

If your seeds havent even sprouted yet then you are going to cook them using the 600w.

If you have to use the 600w then have it at least 3ft above and make sure your environment is ok for the seedlings to emerge stress free.



You may find that growing 10plants under a single 600w in the wilma 10pot system is a bit much for the light to cope with. Am i right in thinking the wilma 10 is 2 rows of 5 11litre pots?

If so your 600w is not going to cover the floor area efficiently. The wilma 9 is ok for a 600w as they are 3 rows of 3 11litre pots and just enough light coverage can be obtained.

You may be better off investing in a light mover to help.


J

jondamon said:

If you have to use the 600w then have it at least 3ft above and make sure your environment is ok for the seedlings to emerge stress free.

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This is total garbage, I've sprouted and grown seedlings in full summer sun.
In 4 weeks I was ready to start flowering.
You do not need light to sprout seeds BTW, your wasting electricity and shortening your bulb life.

Correct me if im wrong, but for germinating you would be better off going to your local hardware store and picking up a 20$ t-5 flouro setup bro. Its more than enough for your stage of growing and will save you alot in electricity as well as putting off much less heat. That in turn will get your light closer to your seedlings and get you more lumens and less stretching. Do yourself a big favor and browse the site for an hour and check out some of these germ/clone setups. Best of luck.

Can't get T5 at the hardware store as I understand it. Maybe T8. Definitely T12. But not T5.

I prefer CFL bulbs for seedlings.

What's a 600w sunmaster dual light??? Are we talking about 1200w total? Are we talking about a switchable ballast? I don't get the language used.

So long as you're cooling the light then you can keep it somewhere around 18 inches or so from the plants and let them grow into it. This shouldn't cook them but should also maximize the energy used. Personally, I go with CFL bulbs for the first 10 to 14 days. Cheap and easy and kept close enough to really reduce seedling stretching for light. Day light spectrum. I like to use 15w to 20w per plant (27w bulbs). Then you start using the higher energy HID system.

frmrboi said:

This is total garbage, I've sprouted and grown seedlings in full summer sun.
In 4 weeks I was ready to start flowering.
You do not need light to sprout seeds BTW, your wasting electricity and shortening your bulb life.

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Exactly, you don't need light to sprout seedlings, however if you dont get them under SOME direct light after they sprout up, the stems tend to sprout out of control and tip over.

Snow Crash said:

Can't get T5 at the hardware store as I understand it. Maybe T8. Definitely T12. But not T5.

I prefer CFL bulbs for seedlings.

What's a 600w sunmaster dual light??? Are we talking about 1200w total? Are we talking about a switchable ballast? I don't get the language used.
.

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Duel just means you can use halide and hps. A duel light bulb emits both the blue and orange spectrums, but it doesn't double the wattage.

frmrboi said:

This is total garbage, I've sprouted and grown seedlings in full summer sun.
In 4 weeks I was ready to start flowering.
You do not need light to sprout seeds BTW, your wasting electricity and shortening your bulb life.

Click to expand...

i know you dont need light, however i still use a small T5, nature doesnt create eternal darkness until a new seedling sprouts the soil creates the darkness.

i was talking about the environment might not be dialed in enough which could cause problems as it doesnt look like there is anything in the pots , which to me says they're still underground, yet to emerge and a 600w non air cooled too close will cause stress on a young seedling at a time when environment should be as stress free as possible .



J

T5s and T8s are about the same, CFL is also the same but "compact" all are fluorescent lights very good/cheap for seedlings/clones.