Are my babies gonna die? :[ [Laharl Log]

So this is my first grow. Trying my best to keep my nose in the books but still slipping through the cracks of no experience. Anyway this is what i started with.
-Fox Farm Ocean forset soil.
- 2 Green House Seeds Super Lemon Haze (All seeds femanized)
- 1 Dinafem Seeds Shark Attack (fem+free)
- Dinafem Sweeds Sweet Deep Grapefruit(fem+free)
- 1 Reggie seed my friend gave me
- 2 cfl bulbs. Not 100% sure about the specs(will add picture)
- A germination dome
- Heating mat that i keep under the dome
- Thermometer that usually reads 75-82 degrees (did drop to 69-73 for 1 night accidently tho)

So i started with my reggie seed about a week ago. Did the paper towl germination and everything went well. Popped Regina into some rockwool and gave her some 5.8 ph water. She sprouted pretty well. Then a few days later(this is when i started a real log) Feb 2nd i planted 2 SLH and the Shark attack(Shakira) into the FF soil. The grapefruit never germinated... .

They all started off pretty well, i thought because i didnt know better but after looking at my plants and everyones pictures, my plants look like giraffes. I started giving them all 18/6 of light and initially had the lights maybe about 6 or 7 inches away from the time they sprouted up until last night when i lowerd it down to about 4 inches. I also dropped a magazine on Regina and she suffered a little tiny dent in her stem, i hope that doesnt kill her either. Regina started to droop the day after and because she is in rockwool i figured she was thirsty and probably hungry. So i watered her and gave her FF grow big. i measured it properly i believe, and since she is my free test subject i added General Hydroponics Rapid Start Root Enhancer just to see what it would do to her. Today i lowered the lights to 2 inches because i am unsure if they will die from stretching.
Note: I kept the dome covering them the entire time. Not sure if i was supposed to take it away or not this early.

Any advice would be appreciated. I also plan on getting C02 pads tomorrow to help them. Im also bracing myself for intital failure and started germinating 3 more SLH seeds. I also have a 4x2x5 grow tent i plan on using later with a 600w hps/mh light set when they get a little older. Didnt want to throw them right in there.

Edited by xxxLaharlxxx, 12 February 2012 - 04:47 AM.

OMG!! you need help
1. roots need to be in darkness. clear cups are the worst thing you can put them in get them out or wrap up the cup with duct tape or somthing
2. thats a 23w cfl you to need more if your going to want to make it threw this. with cfls i say you want 100w per plant. youll get them a couple inches with just that one but after that going to need more
3. that rockwool need to be in darkness to. same thing with the roots. also rockwool when exposed to light can start making algae not good for plants
4. they are soo stretched keep the light within 2-3 inches of the plants
5. nutes shouldn't have to add any nutes till they at least 3-4 weeks old. and then only go 1/2 strength

They are "Giraffes" as you say, because you don't have enough light. Your first priority should be to get more light in there any way you can. You need to at least double the light you have on them, and that is just for the seedling stage. That many plants are going to need a lot more light once they mature.

Edit: And no they aren't going to die, but they will keep stretching until you get sufficient light in there. Once you transplant them, just bury them deep in the soil. But that won't do any good if you don't upgrade your lighting. They will just stretch again.

So the lights i have arent cutting it for now? What kind of light should i go out and get just for the seedling stage then? What kind of wattage, how many lights etc? I still plan on putting them under the 600w later on but i wont get that for another week or so.
As for the clear cups i had no idea... gonna throw away the clear ones i have and cover these with duck tape for now.

For the seedlings I would say you can get away with four to six CFL lights. Use a "Y" adapter in a clamp on Reflector. So if you had six CFL's you would have three physical lights. That will cut it until they get big enough for the HID light.

Honestly though CFL's seem cheap enough, but it is probably a little more cost effective to just buy a 100 Watt T-5 or T-8 for seedlings. I have used both and to be honest I have better luck with the T-8 lights. I bought my 4 bulb 2' light for $100

Edited by fyrhazzrd, 07 February 2012 - 12:24 AM.

Y adapter.. use 4 of them.. got it... thanks im gonna try and rig up the other 2 i have here somehow. But my current plants arent gonna die right? Not even Regina with the small dent in her neck?

Edit: Damn i didnt think i would get help this fast.. thanks a hell of a lot guys. Hopefully if i make it all the way to flowering ill roll a 8 gram blunt for u guys. :]

Where can i but a T-8 Locally?

No your plants aren't going to die.. When I germinated my seeds, I dropped them in the rock wool cubes covered the dome with a towel to keep the light out and went out of town for two days. I came back and checked on them, and mine were stretching so far they were touching the top of the dome. The stems were pretty much S shaped. And I am now in my second week of flower. So if mine made it I think you should be ok. Current pictures are in the link in my signature.

Where can i but a T-8 Locally?

If you don't have a hydroshop you may be able to find one at lowes.

Im gonna take a look at your grow right now. And tomorrow i plan on buying the CO2 for my plants. How many t8s should i get at what wattage exactly for these 4 girls... and i suppose the 3 that i put in today because i thoguth they were gonna die.... :\

List for tomorrow:
T8 bulbs (i believe)
Y adapter
Clamp light w/ reflector

Edited by xxxLaharlxxx, 07 February 2012 - 12:47 AM.

As long as you are only going to use it for Veg I would say go with a 4 bulb 4 foot for seven plants. Or maybe a 6 or 8 bulb 2 foot light. I believe all T-8's are 25W bulbs, but I could be wrong.

When they got older i wanted to put them under the 600w MH. (Mh is for veg right?) But just for now i wanted to use these CLF's. So for now just stick with the 4 clfs i have now or get the T8s instead?

Thanks again for your help and patience...I really appreciate it

That is completely up to you. I like the T-8's just because it's a cleaner look. And not much more expensive than buying the CFL's, but the CFL's will work just fine until they are old enough to be put under the HID.

And yes MH is for VEG, but they also make a wide spectrum HPS that works equally well for VEG.

AH ok thanks a lot man

I suggest to put those plants into larger pots immediately. You are going to stunt their growth in containers that small. Whatever size pot you plan on growing in, get those plants in there.

I only keep seedlings in starter pots long enough for them to be able to stand up on their own.

I kept mine in rock wool cubes for three weeks before actually putting them into pots. No stunting here. As long as you can keep the roots out of the light you are ok.

xxxLeharlxxx you and I seem to have some similar problems. I'm so glad I looked at your post. Now I too know what I need to do as well to keep my babies alive. I wish you the best in your cultivation.

Well hopefully my mistakes will hep out everyone else who starts out... by the way my plants are soon to be a week. Should i transplant them already?

You don't need to transplant them yet. I would wait till they get a couple sets of leaves on them first. Are you using a pro-mix or is that just plain top soil mixed with pearlite? The reason I ask is they may be a little young yet to be able to handle something like a fox farm soil.

I have a friend who planted his seeds in Fox Farm soil and they burned up on him. So if it is a fortified soil, just make sure you keep an eye on them to make sure they don't start to burn.

I'm currently using FF ocean floor... Or what ever it's called