New Grow -- Need Some Tips

After a failed attempt a few months ago at my first grow, I have bought a 400HPS and think I am ready for success this time. My new batch of Northern Lights has already begun to sprout - Ive got two that have surfaced already. But I have some concerns with the grow space:

1. Ive got a 400HPS and I am growing in a closet - so the temp gets up there... around 90 degrees. I know thats way too hot, so I have a fan blowing the air around and that brings it down to about 87-88. Is that still too hot? My hand doesnt feel uncomfortable when I put it between the plants and the lamp, and they are about 12" away.

2. Since I obviously need to have the fan on them constantly to keep the temps down I am wondering whether the constant breeze may stunt their growth? I know a light breeze is good for the plants bc it strengthens the stem, but the fan I have does not oscilate so it is blowing directly on them constantly. Is this ok or could it be overkill for the little guys?

Thanks for any help you guys could give me, Ill be posting pictures within the next few days too.

Im on my first grow too and asked a similar question as i had a normal fan i was told not to blow it directly at the plants or it could blow them over. I dont know if this is correct but i would blow it towards the light to try and blow the heat away if i was you, and if its only a closet the blowing should rebound at some point and help to strenghen the stem too.

Plants grow well in Arizona where the summer temps rise above 100 degrees all the time. Ideal temp is far less....75 degrees...but 88 is ok.

With temps that high, it is important to have FRESH air brought into your grow area. Just blowing wind around wont cut it.

Fresh air and CO2 in and hot stale used air OUT.

Means you need an exhaust and inlet.

As far as your fan right on them....no problem. Fans will not blow a healthy plant over...it will only cause them to be stronger and more stable.

I have never used a oscillating fan... Just make sure ALL air is moved around...I use 3 fans for air right on plants since the day they were born.

In the attached pic, you will see a fain on the right, a fan on the left, both blowing DOWN.

In the middle, I have a yellow fan, at the bottom, blowing UP.

This creates a complete air movement environment and that is what is very important. Circulate and exchange your entire air several times per hour.

HAPPY GROWING :)

harddon is right! especialy about the co2 in fact try exhailing (talking to it) on it. and for the fan... if it makes your plant bend....... somethines wrong. if it blows over contact me or harddon with pics we'll know what to do... right harddon?!!! harddon???
lol..lol...lol...lol

I have an oscilating fan on mine but I had to make it ghetto and put it sideways to fit my grow room's needs :) but it's been blowing on them since day 1 and all I've seen is AWESOME stem growth. Occasionaly when I'm sitting near them I have the door open as well as the window to allow fresh air to come in and I'm not sure if it really makes a difference but I like to think it is. The only thing you should think about if your gonna create cirulation like HARDDON's is that the leaves take in air from the BOTTOM of the leaves via tiny tiny flaps. So if you're gonna do a up and down circulation have it be like HARDDON's to where the blowing up part is in the middle of the plants rather than the outside. HARDDON, Zandor, and Sykobabble do everything right so if you see them doing something don't second guess it.

Thanks guys,

I took some pictures of my guys, they are 7 and 8 days old.

Ive been able to get the temp. down to 85 degrees so that is no longer an issue.

My main concern right now is that I feel like the two plants are growing incredibly slowly. The same thing happened to me during my first grow, but I had always attributed that to the crappy incandescent lights I was using. But this time I have a 400HPS monster but it seems like after a week of growth my guys are still wayyyy smaller than they should be, especially with that much light.

Since light is obviously not the problem, what else could be going on that I am doing wrong? Here are pics of the plants and the growroom so you can help me out with this:
(NL#1 is Northern Lights, 8days old; NL#2 is also Northern Lights, 7days old)

One more thing,
NL#1's stem has something wrong with it that is starting to worry me. I tried to take the best picture I could but if you look just above soil level you see the stem looks like it is starting to die or is getting burned or something... I remember that happened with my last plant that died a few months ago. Does anyone have any idea what this is???

Your plants can only grow as fast as the leaves produce energy (photosynthesis). The leaves are small, they can only process small amounts of light energy. As more, and more leaves form, photosynthesis will increase.

Yea and try very hard not to overwater in those tiny cups. I did the same thing and I got that same stem problem only mine all resulted in death. Try putting in more soil to make the stem shorter and stronger and hope for the best. Don't water too much because the cup is small plus the plant doesn't grow as much as it would if it had big leaves like SSS said so it doesn't need as much water.

Two things I would consider...

1. Thats a real nice turbo fan you got there. Those things on even speed #2 can be a little violent on such young plants.

When blowing on them, you just want to wisp them with air...not make them fight. One thing it could be, is the stem is not rebuilding at the stress point.

How fast is the fan blowing on them????

Also, NL #2 looks, from the pic, like it might have the same problem going on.

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2. That 400W HPS looks awfully close to be on such young tender plants. What is the temperature at plant leaf top level?

I dont think the growth is any slower than it should be...growth rate will accelerate as the plant learns to live.

Mine were the same at week one....

If you look at the plants on the pic, the little ones are all day 10 - 14. They grew up to be real nice....

Let us know about the fan and the temp..... Maybe we can figure it out.....