and yet again

ok, my grow room is small, say 2.5 ft by 3ft by 8ft high
Might be a little more.. not exactly sure.
But i have three plants under one 400 watt HPS, along with a small fan to blow air around, in my closet. However, I used a cover to hang in front of the closet, so when the door slides shut the light does not leak out.. The ballast is off the ground, away from the plants a little bit, and the light is about 8-12" away from the pots.. Ive just started so they havent came up yet. The temperature is pretty high in there, Id say anywhere from 85-95F.
I open the door occasionally to allow fresh air in.
Im concerend about the heat, Its only been on for about six some hours, and its not hott, just really warm..
Id move the cover, but to much light shines out, so it has to stay..
Tell how my set up sounds, Im going to try and get some pics soon..

you need to find a way to vent out the hot air and bring in fresh air, is there a way you can put a vent fan in the top of your grow space, to pul out the heated air?

it sounds like a good set up, but you need more ventilation, and you might want to put the light a bit higher from your plants.
ok here is a little test which i do to see if my light is too close, place your hand, palm down, at the top of your plant, if you can hold your hand like that between the top of your plant and the light with out your hand getting too hot, it`s far enough away, but if your hand gets too hot real quick, the light is too close. test it , raising or lowering using this method should keep you from burning your plants

The light isnt burning.. I could hold my hand there forever, and not be bothered its just nice n warm... the fan makes the air somewhat cooler.
As for the vent van, I could, If I could find something to use as one.. but I dont have anything as of now, I may be able to get one later, but could I still have a nice grow by just opening and closing the door occasionally?
Hope so, cause Im stoked about doing this..

Ok made some changes.. I took down the cover i was using to block light, and found other means to seal it off..
So now the heat wont be AS HIGH as it was..
Seeds like high hummidity anyway right? The soil was dry when I came home today, so I moisted it again.. Your not supposed to drench seedlings, Ive heard.. right? But I checked some two hours later and the soil was almost.. COMPLETELY dry again(when the cover was up).. so I wetted it a lil more..
now the covers down, and the seeds are somewhat moist... I think they'll be fine, but what do you think?
Also, its the second day with the light on 24/7 and I have no sprouts, just wondering if this is uncommon using HPS.. cause Ive never used it before, some seeds are faster than others I know, but should they be above the soil in a couple of days? I have already germinated them.. the root tips were showing when they went into ALL NATURAL ORGANIC SOIL.
so please help me out a little bit

your seeds dont need the light to sprout, warm, dark area would be a better place for that. the intense light is drying out the soil too fast. once the sprouts come up, is when they need the light. sometimes it takes seeds over a week to sprout, so dont give up on em.
as long as you keep em warm and moist, things should come out ok.
you got a good grasp of what you are doing.
seeds dont need the light to sprout.
they need the light after sprouting up
you should be seeing sprouts any day

how do you germinate the seeds?

Notanovice has very good advice for you. I couldn't have said it better and that's what I do!
bekind/Coloradojane
www.growweed.com
The only thing I would suggest is next crop switch over to hydro. I have written an article for Cannabis.com under growing and you can pick up the basics there.

KICK, thanks a lot guys.. I thought about that, but Ive already got sprouts now.. ones about an inch, other just out of the soil, and the last one is visible... So Im good to go for now, gettnig a camera soon, plan to keep posts on it, and any further problems I have, and yeah, next time it is hydro... hoping to get some nice systems sometime either before or after this harvest.. depends on my money intake..
Oh and as for water.. now that theyve came up.. there still really small, so they dont really need a lot right, Id say about just a few cups.. I check occasionally, by sticking my finger in the soil about an inch, away from the sprout.. if its wet, leave it alone.. from what Ive read..
But, as for right now.. Im just trying to keep the intake small, and do it frequently, if the soil is dry about an inch down.. I water.. if its not.. I wait..
thats how Im going about it.. sound good?
I really appreciate the help, thanks a lot.
-Travis

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PiercedPipehittin

how do you germinate the seeds?

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Simple.. I use the paper towel method, many have talked about using distilled water and letting soak overnight, or using rockwool cubes, but for someone like me... Paper towel is better, cause Im cheap right now.
Just place your seeds in between six moist towelettes, I fold them a couple of times, helps keep them wet, but keep them damp, not really soaked, or dry.. but damp, and then wait. Once your root tip shows itself, then you can plant..

(sucks.. I ran out of pots and good dirt, and Ive got a fucking seed, thats no longer a seed in a paper towel, its actually sprouting in the paper towel.. its like an inch and half too..)