Don't blow the fan directly on them, but yeah, you need the fan, i was about to say the same thing as far as putting the light as close as possible and you also need to turn that aluminum foil on the dull side to reflect the light, the glossy side absorbs the light......the lights can be as little or as comparable to 40 watt floro's but whatever light you use, you need to put the plants as close to them as you can with out burning them......if you use floros, 2 to 4 inches from the top of the plants.....hps are more around1 foot or more depending on the heat they put out....but they do look pretty good....