Help First time Grower!

Ok bare in mind im a noob to this lol ! Everyone starts somewhere hehe, So im about to start my grow i have my 3 Feminised Autoflowering seeds in water now then going to papertowel them if not popped in 24-36 hours, I only have one light and that is a 250w Hps, Once the root has popped i will put them root down into plastic cup, the question is when do i give it light ? how far should the light be away from the soil? give it light straight away or wait for abit ? if i do give light what hours 18-6 etc ? I only have one 250w Hps. Here is a picture of my setup Thank yous !!

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@bob31 @dbrn32 should be able to help you :slightly_smiling_face:

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help me lol

Assuming you’re going to have soil or some sort of a seed starting mix in your plastic cup, as soon as you place the taproot into that, you can place that under your light. I would run at least 18 hours. Some prefer 20 or 24 hours of light for seed starting, but you should be safe at anything 18 hours or above.

I’ve never started seeds with an hid bulb, but my guess would be you’ll want to start about 30-36” above the top of your pots. You’ll run it closer as they start to grow, but for initial starting you’ll want a good distance.

Hopefully that answers all of your questions for now. Feel free to tag me if you need anything else.

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@Steven420 you can grow with a HPS, but during the veg stage she will stretch quite a bit from the red spectrum. As long as you’re aware of that, then it’ll grow just fine. Happy growing.

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@Steven420 welcome the ILGM Forum Family! I think @dbrn32 has you covered on the lights. If you have any other questions, please ask!

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If you happen to be in a place where it’s summer, you could always start them outdoors. The sun is the perfect spectrum and always the right height above the plants.

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So true. No light beats pure sunlight.

Thank you mate im using terra professional plus, the roots popped yesterday/lastnight ive got them in the soil now in warm dark cupboard, i will put them under 18-6 later on today you got any tips on how i can keep them small ? ive got just under 4ft height from bulb to plant pot will i be ok ? thanks

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hmm ok will my grow be ok with 4ft height from pot to bulb ?im worried incase they go huge lol thank you

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Small pots, lots of blue wavelengths of light, low light intensity, and underfeeding will all keep them small. Proceed with caution though, as all of them can cause potential issues with your plant as well.

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5l pot be ok for 4ft ? i dont understand about the blue wavelenghts :weary: … and when you say underfeed do you mean cut the ml of feed i put in or feed less often ?

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@Steven420 The 4ft number is difficult to nail down, because there are so many variables from lighting, spectrum of lighting, nutrients, container grown in, strain and phenotype of the plant. Similar to what @dbrn32 states.

@Steven420 the nutrient schedule is what dbrn32 was talking about. Blue spectrums of light keep the plants short and very bushy, red wavelengths are helpful in flowering, but when vegging it causes additional stretching. Hope this helps.

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Let’s talk only about the lights and pot size right now. Feeding can be difficult enough sometimes to just follow the schedule.

5 liter pots are on the small side. I would probably recommend a 10 liter, Or 2-3 gallon pot size. You’re not really suppose to transplant autos, do you want to start them in a pot they can finish in.

The lights are a little more difficult. The light range for photosynthesis is between 400nm and 700nm. Photons produced in that range are typically referred to as par and measured in umols. Those are the two things we’re concerned about when selecting grow lights, intensity and spectrum produced.

When talking about hps, the majority of its light production falls in red wavelengths. Which is great for bud development and production. However, it has a tendency to make the plant want to stretch towards it. That’s why you’ll see most hid growers use metal halide bulbs for vegging plants, and switch over to the hps for flowering stage. The mh produces a lot more light in the lower end of the par range.