A ballast is required for ignition and to provide enough current at glow discharge voltage for a HID lamp, either metal halide or hps. Does your bulb have a larger, mogel socket on it or a standard medium?

You might check the place you got the bulb at for a ballast or they have them here: http://www.atlaslightingsupply.com/HPSballastwLamp.html in kits for about $50. You can search the forums here and find info on building your own....there's hundreds of threads here by people who bought standard 150w hps fixtures w/built-in ballasts for around $75 and adapted them for small grow areas.

Sorry I can't help with plant problem diagnosis.
Forget the males, just thank them & kill em. Later on you may want some to breed but that will be down the road.
doco Reviewed by doco on . my second closet growing attempt! hi all fucked up the first time. but this time things are lookin 10 times better. iput the seeds in a towel and all 12 sprouted so i planted them the next day now i got some sprouts growing its all awesome. i will post some picks soon if possible. but i still have some questions. i have some plastic wrap over them right now so not to lose to much moisture how long should i keep it over them? i have 4 cfl's wich seems to be doin alright my temp is between 28 and 30 degrees celcius my Rating: 5