Jus got my 400 watt hps. PLEASE HELP

So I just got my 400 watt hps from htgsupplies.com. Btw incredebly fast shipping 3 days across the country!

Anyways, i set it all up in my closet and it works great, the problem is there is a ton of light escaping, as it is a folding closet with 2 doors. I need a way to lightproof these doors.

Also, my seed just germinated about 3 days ago so I need to know how far away I should set up the light from the new sproutings. I don't have any ventilation right now but plan to get some soon.

Also, when should I water these sprouts? when the lights are off? Also, how often should these sprouts be watered? BTW im going with 18 on 6 off. Any help would be very aprreciated, Thanks!

JN811 said:

So I just got my 400 watt hps from htgsupplies.com. Btw incredebly fast shipping 3 days across the country!

Anyways, i set it all up in my closet and it works great, the problem is there is a ton of light escaping, as it is a folding closet with 2 doors. I need a way to lightproof these doors.

Also, my seed just germinated about 3 days ago so I need to know how far away I should set up the light from the new sproutings. I don't have any ventilation right now but plan to get some soon.

Also, when should I water these sprouts, when the lights are off, also how often should these sprouts be watered? BTW im going with 18 on 6 off. Any help would be very aprreciated, Thanks!

Click to expand...

i would use poly sheets, or mylar on the inside of the doors, do it this way so when they are open they will have slack and shut will be nice and tight.

and with the sprouts, with no ventalation, depending on how big the clostet is too, i would say with a 400w go anywhere from 18-24 inches would be a good start, but keep checking the seedlings for heat problems, due to no ventalation.

and watering i would water anywhere from like 3-6 days, really depends, an easy way to tell when to water is when the first inch i`d say with sprouts is dry. Or you could do the lift test, lift the pot when it has been watered, and lift again in a few days or so and when it is alot lighter water.\
hope this helps.

meant water when first inch of soil is dry, for sprouts

yeah.. i love htg as well.. samething, i usually get my stuff in about three days, and good prices to boot.. i grow in a small closet too, but i dont have folding doors like you.. at my formal place of employment, we had these big rolling plastic dumpsters that we would put trash in, and we lined them with these big plastic trash bag kinda things.. very nice thick plastic.. i just stol... eerrr, i mean borrowed a few of them and attached it around the frame of the door from the inside using some double stick velcro.. it runs from the top to the floor and completely around the whole frame... works pretty well.. i am not sure where you can buy these at retail, but i am sure you could use some visquen i think is the brand name.. or you could go to htg and i think they have the mylar that you use to line your grow with, and it should come in length's and width's that should be plenty wide enough for what you need. just do the same thing i did with the black plastic bag and it should work good..
you should have watered in the seeds pretty well when you put them in the soil... my friend just told me that she just uses her finger to check soil to see how moist it is.. says she just puts it in like two inches and if it feels dry than they need watering.. i would start off a little on the farther side for distances from the lamp till the seedlings get a lil bigger and then move them closer as they get bigger.. mayb somewhere in like the 18 inch to two foot range should be good.. be sure to get urself some good ventilation as well..
i also water when the lights go off.. if you do water them on the lights on period, you have to make sure not to get any water on the leaves of the plant, as the droplets act like little magnifying lenses and will burn your lil babies.
hope some of this info helps