MH distance from plant???

if i have a 250 mh how far should i have it from the plants? or the seeds planted. and im also germinating some to get started. in a few days. so how far should i hang it from the pots

12-18 inches or when ever ur hand feels warm under the light

okay cool. thanks. do you know anymore of the cycle to mh lights??

theBiGPair00 said:

12-18 inches or when ever ur hand feels warm under the light

Click to expand...

That seems a bit close for seedlings

what should i put it at. im planting them in moments......

i put my 400w mh with a diy cooltube less than six inches from my seedlings/clones

day one on the 250 wt MH light. planted today how far should i hang the light?!?!?!?! someone please help. first indoor grow.....

with no cooltube i would go with 14-20 inches

so if i put a fan on it should i put it like 6 inches away of farther away and no fan at all?

okay cool, thanks man. and can i get a cooltube for the light i have??

so i planted my seeds in the pots and set my light up. now the wait begin!!! lol

A 250 can go within 5 -6 inches of the tops but thats AFTER the plants are established, wait for the first four sets of leaves or so before it's anywhere near that close.

You always need a fan on it, regardless of how far the light is, it'll make it grow healthy and strong. Without a fan you'll get a whole lot more seedlings too weak to hold themselves up when a few leaves start to pack on.

alright, so can i just rig myself a fan to blow on the light or is it absolutely monditory that i buy a cool tube for it?

put ur hand above the plant turn the light on if ur hand gets uncomfortable then it is to close.

ok....just hang your light a little over a foot away, i use a 400 with no cool tube...and YES you need to use a fan on your seedlings ASAP. a gentle breeze will strengthen them, mine are only 32 days old and the stalks are bigger around than my permanent marker....but i use a tower fan...that way it blows the plants and it blows above them to shed the heat from the light...gl

okay. well they havent even sprouted yet and i have some being geminated so im waiting onthem if the others dont sprout. how much should i have the light on the planted seeds??

They will pop out when they are ready, just keep the humidity dome on...and yes you can run the light, but not required before they come out...

okay well there in a room so i will just keep the room closed it naturally gets hot b/c it faces the sun all day so nice humidity will build up =D and when they sprout should i start them on 18/6 right away with the fan on??

That's what I do, i remove them from the humidity dome, and into 4" pots...if they show signs of weakness I'd cover with a gallon jug with the bottom cut out. But after they come out I put them under the MH and never have any problems...

Well IMO more info is needed. You have a 250 watt MH. but are you using a reflector & if you have a reflector is it set up w/ a tempered glass bottom & a 6" (or 4" or whatever size) opening to hook up a duct fan? if so are you using a duct fan? all of this matters. if your reflector is set up so you can make a closed loop cooling fan on it then you can pull in fresh cool air from outside your grow room w/ some flexible ducting & put a duct fan on it (I reccomend getting a cheap on from home depot or lowes, a 6" fan costs about $30) and then go ahead & direct the heat out of your room w/ some more flexible ducting, insulated if possible or affordable. Anyway if you are cooling that way w/ a fan then it will keep your light much cooler & you should really set up this way. you can then get your light much closer to the plants & thus be getting many more lumens from your light. The further your light is from your plants the more lumens you lose. The other thing you should get is a thermometer. either just a cheap one or get in nice digital display deal that you can set up w/ mutiple sensors throughout your room. My understanding is your plants will love it about 75 degrees F. Anything over 90 and they are in trouble. So get a thermometer & that will be the easiest way to decide how far your light should be. As for right now, assuming you don't have a thermometer & since i don't know all the other variables such as how hot/cool your room is, your cooling set-up if any & what-not.... well I would say a good rule is that too far away is safer than too close. And I would say set your light up & put your hand 1/2 way between the light & the tops of your seedlings... if your hand feels rather warm then move it back. I'm not saying you should feel no heat on your hand 1/2 way betweeen but you don't wanna feel very much heat. Anyhow, my advice is err on the side of caution & don't have it too close, especially if they are seedlings. Then get yourself some good cooling set-up & a thermometer & you can get everything just right.