Quote Originally Posted by JunkYard
Is it difficult to start seedlings with an HID? I have no lights at the moment, and I'll be growing very soon. I'm a little indesicive about what to purchase. Is it flouresents for seedlings and veg, or do I go with an hps switchable, and a metal hilide conversion bulb? That would cost me less in the long run, and I could get it soon, but I'm worried about being a first time grower, and using HID's off the bat./shrug (I don't want to kill my babies!)

How do you pull it off? I mean with the HID's for seedlings?
Usually, if you have a good distance from the bulb, they'll be fine. Just check the moisture levels of the medium the seedling is in -- if it's too dry, chances are the bulb is too close or the area too warm, or a combination. If you want to play it safe, buy just a simple medium socket compact fluorescent [ CFL ]. They screw into standard household incandescent sockets, use a whole lot less energy, and give off ultraviolet radiation that stimulates plant growth. You can buy 25w daylight spectrum CFLs at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. for cheap. The reason to get daylight spectrum is for their higher kelvin output -- meaning that for vegetative growth [ that's from the time it pops the soil's surface until you decide to induce flowering ] you want 5000k light or higher. The daylight spectrum comes with 6500k, which is actually around ~1,500k brighter than the sun's [ Sol's, rather ] visible surface -- or it's photosphere. The slightly higher kelvin output will demote internodal stretching, and promote side branching. Meaning you'll get a bush instead of a long twig with fan leaves. Although, an MH at a distance on a plant from seedling wouldn't hurt, just monitor the temperatures.


And Mobay; get back into growing simply because I want to see another HST'd plant thread. That fucking plant was huge. When I first saw the pictures, this popped in my head http://www.jahozafat.com/0058493028/.../hugebitch.wav