sick seedlings [pics] please help

[CobraCmdr]

Hi, I'm just about 10 days into a grow and my seedlings are starting to look pretty grim. I've never had problems with sprouts before like this. Some sprouts have leaves that are twisting, others are curling downward on the edges, others have brown spots forming, and a couple have leaves that are turning yellow!!! Its like I've done everything possible wrong!

1. they are growing in soil, "Timberline Potting Soil", that I got from home depot. The guy in the gardening center assured me there was no ferts already in the soil. they also have some pearlite in them. It looks like they have a lot of pearlite in them cause when i water them it all floats up to the top, but it's not as much as it looks.

2-4. I don't know my PH's, still need to get a kit

5. plants are 10 days old or so?

6. I have not used any ferts yet.

7. There are pics of my light setup below. Basically it's 6 45 watt CFL's. They *were* about 6-8 inches from the plants, but I thought it might be too intense for them so I moved them up to about 14 inches away now. 6 of these CFL's is like a miniature freaking SUN in my closet.

8. Light cycle: 18/6 since I planted them.

10. Room temps are quite normal. I have an oscillating fan in the closet and exhaust fans in the room windows. The temperature near the plants seems to be OK. It's warm, but not hot to put your hand there.

Oh, as for watering, I've watered them like 3 times so far. I water them until they are very wet, draining out of the bottom, and then I had been waiting until the top soil was dry before watering again... like 2-3 days between each watering.

I'm attaching several pics. It's hard to tell the coloring in the photos, but the plants that look "the best" are actually yellowing pretty dramatically. Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks a ton...
-cc

[Gamarglephunk]

looks like youve got quite a bit of pearlite but it shouldnt be a problem. all soil should have some natural nutes in it so if theres absolutely none like the guy at the store says you might as well have planted them in moist sand. try adding a VERY VERY small amount of nutrients and see what happens. if not idk what to tell you, sprouts are pretty hard to diagnose.

[psionblue]

get a ph kit. I had seedling get very light in color until the ph was adjusted. What is the color temperature of your bulbs? Looks too red for 6500k. It might be the ph, but it look like you are giving too much water. You can also use rain water until you get your kit.


Good Luck!

[Ganja Guerrilla]

I cant find any info on your soil , but & you may have pre-ferted soil(I dont know any brands that arent) some pre ferted soils are just too hot for seedlings

I also noticed they are going to be root bound........ tomorrow , there is little to no soil in a couple of those cups.....fill them up

there is a noticeable droop to the leaves, which can be attributed to nitrogen in the soil(pre added ferts) or and which I believe is most of your problems overwatering

you can use a mister bottle and squirt the soil at the base of the plant a couple squirts a day.

PH kit is a must ....see "ph video" on my site (see link below)