I copied and pasted this last night, and was able to save it as this forum crashed (at least on my computer). I don't know how much of this was already answered since then, but I'm not in the mood to go back and change things anyway. Sorry for the weird format, I was just lucky to save it before it was lost for good. So here you go:

1) Germination began last night. I started with 24 seeds and placed them in

grow plugs that were saturated with Liquid Karma solution. 1 tsp to gallon,

removed all the air from the plugs and placed one seed per plug into a seed

tray. I covered the tray with a humidity dome. Lighting is being produce by two

2 foot T5 high performance grow light relector kits. The lights are about 6 to

8 inches from the top of the dome.

Ouch. Bright lights too close. Move at least to one foot back for now. At least

until they have been hatched for a couple days. Then move closer gradually

every other day or so.

Question: How long should I wait until I see something?

From 2 days to 2 weeks. Keep em warm and moist, not warm and wet.

Question: At what point should I remove them from the tray (I assume they stay

in the plug for the remainder of their lives) and place them in my ebb and

flow? Is there a height or a certain number of leaves that would be best?

When there is enough roots so that they will get wet when the system is

flooded. Usually 2 or 3 weeks after the plant breaks through the surface.

Make sure you harden them before moving them out of a humidity

dome or they will melt. After you first see signs

of roots, take the dome off for as long as it takes to see signs of wilt (not

long at first). Keep doing it off and on, and see if you can slide a pencil

under the hood to prop it up. Once they can take it, prop it open even more.

Continue until you can leave the dome off. You can use an anti-wilt, but I've

never needed one.

Question: I looked at the lighting section and I am still confused. I can

purchase a 400HPS light setup with the built in ballast. I think that's all I

need but I'm sure someone will tel me differently. The question is, and I

believe it was answered as "yes", can I veg and bloom with 400HPS only?

Yes, but for about the same money you could get higher yields by getting a

ballast that can do both MH and HPS, then you could have the correct lighting

at all stages of growth. Digital ballasts are quieter and cooler and cheaper to

run, so they pay for themselves shortly. Digital ballasts run HPS and MH with a

conversion bulb. Cheaper are the regular ballasts, and you can get switchable

ones. I would not consider a ballast built onto the light. You want the ballast

outside the grow area if at all possible. Heat will be a huge issue. Plan on

spending as much money on venting as HID lighting. I also am a big fan of cool

tubes and enclosed hoods. These will keep the bulb much cooler and allow you to

get the light right close to the plants. If you must get only one, get HPS. But

I vegged for my first time with HPS recently and there is a huge difference. My

600W HPS is vegging slower and smaller all around than my 400W MH does.


Liquid Karma is/are nutrients. No nutes until the plant has been living above

ground for two weeks. Everything the plant needs are in those halves of seeds.

Anything more might kill it. Then gradually and slowly is the safe way to start

adding. A tiny bit of B1 such as SuperThrive mixed with PHd water is what you

want in the beginning. Nothing else.