Quote Originally Posted by azuldainer
i heard that a good way of deciding how far to keep your lights away from the plants is by putting the back of your hand to the lights by the plants and if its to hot for your hand than its to hot for the plants and if someone could verify that that would be awesome thanks guys
This is not a good way to decide. My hand feels perfectly comfortable at 90 degrees, but your leaves should not be over 80 degrees. Above that transpiration slows or stops. You'll need a laser thermometer to measure leaf temps, which are around $35. Otherwise you can get a $5 thermometer and position it at canopy level and try to keep the reading under 83. You should spend as much money on ventilation as you do on lighting.

5000 lumens per plant is best, but I've had decent grows with half that much. The key is the correct colors, of which halogen is not.