Starting AutoFlower with 400w HPS From Seed 20/4

Hello,

I am totally new at growing and i have chosen to grow Auto Flowers.

I am currently growing Bubba Big Buds, AK-47 and Auto White Widow now my question is.. is it safe to start with 400w HPS? the plants are really still babies and im afraid the strong beam and heat of 400w HPS can burn my baby plants?

My grow box is 5 feet tall and 5 feet in width too, i have 3x T8 fluorescent on the roof of my box and a 400w HPS on side of my grow box. I made this box myself and i hope i did it right :S

Im living in Philippines so i dont know if the humidity here will affect also? its humid in my country everyday of the year!

Here are the pics:



















So yeah my question is it safe to grow baby auto flower with 400w HPS specially with 20/4 light cycle?? or i should use the 3x T8 fluorescent first then switch to HPS when it starts to flower?

Also ide appreciate some watering tips from experts here

Wish me luck

Thanks!

I think you have it backwards mate. If your box is five feet tall, that fluorescent light at that the top is virtually useless. Refer to the inverse square law, lumens and all that, lux, foot candles. I like my 400 in a cool tube 12'' from the top of my plants. I run my garden at 24/0 with a 400 in a 3 x 3. Use the 400 on the top, fluorescent as side lighting.

Water when pot is light. Keep surface of soil moist for seedlings with a sprayer. Not too much or you can have damping off and such. All else fails try youtube. I watch at least a half hour of grow vids a day while I pack up bowls and such.

Not hating, those pots are small and dreadful. You'll need at least a 1 gallon and most people say that is too small even.

Hello,

Thanks for reply, i thought its okay to put it on top since i have covered the box with reflector insulator but i can move it on side i think.. now about my question sir is it safe to use 400w HPS on my baby plants? that seed just started to sprout 2 days ago now it is very small plant and im afraid the strong beam and heat of 400w HPS will burn them :S

about the pot i plan to move then to 2 - 3 gallon of pot when they get bit bigger coz im afraid to touch them since they are really really small right now..

what do you think?

The intensity of light decreases substantially with any light after a few inches. If you're concerned about too much light put the HPS at 2', but I just always throw new seedlings in with the others in the tent. It should be fine.

Wait a few weeks for your plants to become rootbound and transplant. Refer to the forum for further information. Every answer you can ask me has been asked before.

Ready set grow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECnYjf5ABQ

great! thank you very much sir! i will update this thread with my progress

Happy New Year!

Transplanting autos is not suggested. But since your pots are so small when you transplant do it into a permanant home

i just did the transplant, it was all smooth but i hope the transplant wont make her weak...

lol im still worried on this 400w HPS its really strong light and hot i hope it wont burn my baby seedlings :S

another question... my seeds are feminized autoflowers now question is do i need to plant a male and make them sex stuff like that so i get the flowers with thc? damn im so noob on this :S

if thats the case then im in trouble since i dont have any male seeds here and if i order it will take a month before it arrives to my country

Thanks!

you'll probably kill the seedlings with 400hps. I did a trial with my 150w hps with 6 seedlings. 4 burned up and 2 got mutated to hell but survived by switching back to cfls.

good luck

I did my seedlings under a 400w Mh and it was fine, I had to keep them about 24' above the planter though

good point. maybe I should try a mh....don't think my 150w is switchable though. hmm

i'm on day 68 for a Grassomatic auto AK. The plant is 37 inches grown under a 400 hps after the first week. Very nice. Hope to harvest 2 plus oz. Used Botanicare akrma, pro grow and pro bloom. Highly recommend fox forest planting soil. Best of luck.


Dennis1946

Hello so im on my 1st week now and here are my observations:

Again i am using 400w HPS, 2x 10' exhaust fan, 3x solo 6' fan.

1. With 400w HPS i notice that the pot / soil is being dry every 8 hours so i have to water them everytime the soil is dry but i do not over water them i just spray mist water on them
2. I dont know if 400w HPS burns out the plant but it gets the soil dry so fast BUT with strong HPS the growth is faster significantly so i think you should just keep HPS to 3 to 4 feet distance.
3. I am using different kind of soil, Soil Mix, Soil less and Normal soil but base on my observation they are all pretty the same.

4. I am not using any kind of fertilizer i just depend on soil nutes, i want this to be 100% organic... will this work ???

Today i have decided to add Blue and Red CFLs to light up the side part of my box because the HPS does not reach them properly...

here are the pics:



















Again this is just base on my experience, if you are using HPS 400w keep the distance between 3 to 4 feet to be safe from the heat and put a fan directing to it also, we just need the light not the heat that much..

Thanks!

I wouldnt recommend relying on nutrients that are in that soil, it looks very sandy. You can buy organic fertilisers, but the organic options tend to be quite... smelly. I use a basic 20-20-20 fertiliser in veg and 0-34-32 for flower, all at 1/8 strength and I use them every time I water and foliar feed once a week. It is clear that you need to do a lot more reading my friend, all the information you could ever want is on this forum, it tought me everything I know, you just have to be ready to spend some time reading. Id recommend putting the 400w hps no closer than 2ft untill you have 4 sets of leaves then move to about 1ft away, you also want to try and get all the pots in the light foot print of the hps.

You potentially have a nice set up there, if you learn to utilise it properly.

Sorry for "gravedigging" and old thread but i just gotta ask the OP. did you get your seeds online delivered to the Philippines? im currently in bicol and am planning on buying good quality strains on the net. can you give me some advice?