Light Question, First Time Growing Inside

So, on sunday I began germanating my seeds and they now look ready to plant.

I have my grow area completely set up, except for the lights. I can't get the lights hooked up until friday because I lent my friend my tools and I don't have any time to get them until then.

Should I leave the seeds in the germanating area until Friday, or would it be better to use a weaker light, like the kind with the hook for working on cars in the garage, in the meantime until I can hook up my lights?

get a couple cfl's with some worklight clamps to hold them over the bucket/cup. that will get you through for a week or two

Steadmanclan said:

get a couple cfl's with some worklight clamps to hold them over the bucket/cup. that will get you through for a week or two

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That shop light he mentions (assuming it's a fluorescent fixture) will work as long as the lights are the right color temps.See what the lights say,look for cool white or 6500k on the light it should have some kinda label.

I was just gonna go out and buy a couple cfl's when I realized that I have another light that I use for fixing my bike that is 6500k fluorescent.
Thanks, you guys were both helpful.

I got a different problem now. I have my temporary lights set up for now, but I amworking on setting up my permanent light.
Some random guy at Home Depot told me that I shouldn't hook a light with a ballast directly to an A/C socket. Is that true? If it is, can I just bypass the ballast?

Also, with the black and the white wires which is (+) & (-) and which of the big & the small prongs is (+) & (-)?

Why not????You need the ballast,it's the only way the light will work.I always plug my lights (ballast) into the wall,I have a 400 hps and 1000hps/mh.What kinda light is that???

There is no (+) & (-) in AC circuits.
For your 120v 15 amp circuit you have hot (black), neutral (white) and ground (green).
The big tab is neutral (white).

Standard plug and receptacle configurations

my ballast is plugged right into my timer...
my timer is plugged into the wall...
been that way for about 3 years now...
no problems so far

it looks like ur using 14/2 wire with a plug end i dnt agree dude, you should pick up some extension cord wire if u want to put a plug end on it. there will be 3 wires black white and green the plug screws will be color coded silver is black gold is white and green is ground. dnt burn ur place down lol

why not jus spring for a prewired mh kit have the dude at the hydro shop wire it for u, jus screw in ur bulb and plug it in, more lumens better product of plant

jcdws602 said:

Why not????You need the ballast,it's the only way the light will work.I always plug my lights (ballast) into the wall,I have a 400 hps and 1000hps/mh.What kinda light is that???

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That random guy made me worry that I was gonna burn down my house, but I guess not, I hooked it up last night and so far no fire.
It's a 24" fluoresent lamp fixture from Home Depot.

crackerbread said:

it looks like ur using 14/2 wire with a plug end i dnt agree dude, you should pick up some extension cord wire if u want to put a plug end on it. there will be 3 wires black white and green the plug screws will be color coded silver is black gold is white and green is ground. dnt burn ur place down lol

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I guess my physics teacher is semi-retarded then, cus he told us that in A/C there is (+) & (-) not the hot and neutral.
It's all they had at Home Depot when I went, the only other wire there were single wires.
I don't see how it could burn down my house, that's the stuff that's running through my walls.

crackerbread said:

why not jus spring for a prewired mh kit have the dude at the hydro shop wire it for u, jus screw in ur bulb and plug it in, more lumens better product of plant

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I don't live anywhere near a hydro shop. The closest shop is 5 hours away(round trip) and in the city.

$50 for gas
$20 for parking
$100 extra for everything I buy, because everything in the city is more expensive.
$10 for McDonald's

$180 more than I need to spend

Hey is there a wal-mart close by???They have lots of things you can use for growing.

there are alot of reliable sources on the interweb for one to procure a more suitable growing lamp. that little one will be insufficient in 2 weeks

I looked in a lot of stores for these so called metal halide and high pressure sodium lights, but I couldn`t find them anywhere. Would it say on the box if it is one of those?

I`m only growing 6 plants. Will that "little light" still be insufficient? If it is, what light would you suggest I buy, and where can I get it?

CrshrTstDmm said:

I looked in a lot of stores for these so called metal halide and high pressure sodium lights, but I couldn`t find them anywhere. Would it say on the box if it is one of those?

I`m only growing 6 plants. Will that "little light" still be insufficient? If it is, what light would you suggest I buy, and where can I get it?

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The link is for a 400 watt hps (hid),you may find a cheaper one if you look around.That fluorescent light alone won't be usable throughout your plants life,they are good for vegging a plant but for flowering you need some power to grow some dense,juicy buds.You can use fluorescent lights like that shop light or cfl's for flowering if you have enough of them but they wont produce the same as a hid lighting.
http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=4431

6 plants will need at least a 400 watt hps to do anything worthwhile. either that or a shit load of cfl's. cfl's wont grow as dense of bud though(not to mention the mess of lights and cords that usually go along with any cfl grow).