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.