First time grow Slow growth issues????

I am getting slightly worried about my little baby it has been about 11 days since it broke the surface Yet my first and only set of true leaves are still tiny they are still only about the size of the cotelydons and when i look closely i can see brown patches on both cotelydon leaves and tiny brown spots on one of the true leaves. The true leaves also appear to be going pale green at edges. I Germinated it in paper towel and have it planted in a soil mix i bought from my local grow shop it is in a ds90 under a 250w hps which i kept about 1 foot away but have now moved it 3 ft away i have a carbon filter and extractor fan with 100mm ducting but did not have an intake fan which i have just installed today any help as to why this would happen and how i could remedy it would be very much appreciated. I have taken the best pictures i can but cant really see the leaves very well due to hps lighting the first pic is when it first popped up and the rest are how it looks now

Keep your light backed off. what type of soil is it?

its called gold label special mix

Does it have any food already in it?

yep it sez on it provides enough nutrition for 3 to 6 weeks

I'm guessing light is too intense, can you put it under some florecents?

not really an option have no fluorescents and funds are too tight too buy. would it help if i moved light further away? i thought seedlings were ok too put under a 250w hps though.

would it help if I put the lid back on the propagator?

lid back on to act as a "greenhouse?" you can, But only till theyre maybe an inch tall. Ive fried veggies accidentally like that. And ive found "green" is more finicky. IMO id try to get some flouros above em till theyre a decent size. maybe 5-6 inches or so? But thats me and everyones different.

When u get a chance, check my grow out. So far only using 4 100 watt CFL.

I picked up some floros at k-mart for a grand total for fixture and bulbs, 20 us dollars. I would suggest getting them under that. I had all sorts of trouble under HPS UNTILL I switched to floro. They were all seedlings like yours and had trouble like yours. Then I got them under floros till they were 4" tall with 4 sets of leaves and switched em back to hps and they took off.

clarionnecro said:

I picked up some floros at k-mart for a grand total for fixture and bulbs, 20 us dollars. I would suggest getting them under that. I had all sorts of trouble under HPS UNTILL I switched to floro. They were all seedlings like yours and had trouble like yours. Then I got them under floros till they were 4" tall with 4 sets of leaves and switched em back to hps and they took off.

Click to expand...

bingo bango right on the money! I too am about to make the switch to MH lights, THEN hps.

thanks guys i think im gonna have to borrow some doe and get me sum fluoros appreciate the help

Just looked at pics. Those plants are asking to not be watered so much. A seedling like that will only be devistated by lots of water. There is no way that seedling can suck up all that water your giving it, and in turn suffocating the roots of oxygen. Tone it down and let that medium dry out before you water again. And when you water a seedling like that, use about 40ml. Dont water the whole pot. Overwatering a seedling will stunt growth (your problem) and cause deficiencies of all kinds along with stem rot at the base and root rot. Trust me man, a little water goes a long way with babies. When they get to about 3-4" tall with a few sets of true leaves up the water to 100ml or do 4floz which is 118ml. Remember to let the soil dry or almost dry before the next watering. For me, at that stage, took 4-5 days before next water. I'll bet ya that that will make all the difference! The overwatering combined with an HID light like that = big problems. Thats how my grow started and it took me a while before I figured all this out and everything is working out now!

Hope this helps ya man!

what wattage should i go for?

stethecheese said:

thanks guys i think im gonna have to borrow some doe and get me sum fluoros appreciate the help

Click to expand...

you got it man. I got my lights for 7 dollars at home depot (4 pack 100 watt CFL). Cheap and easy! even with those on my little plant keeps growing noticeably every day.

yep I think you might be right on the money guys!!! With work and not being in the house over night a few nights last week i think i overcompensated in case i wasnt here to water them!! Mucho Gracias

My floro fixture is a T8/T12 4ft with double 5000k 32w bulbs. Worked just fine to get em to 4-5". Then put em under your hps

clarionnecro said:

My floro fixture is a T8/T12 4ft with double 5000k 32w bulbs. Worked just fine to get em to 4-5". Then put em under your hps

Click to expand...

ive got one of those from home depot as well, costed 35-40 total with bulbs and such. So all depends where ur wallet is at. good luck cheese.

I got the fixture for 11.99 and the bulbs for 7.99

clarionnecro said:

I got the fixture for 11.99 and the bulbs for 7.99

Click to expand...

lol, even better! I may have been wrong on my pricing on that since ive had it a year or so.
BUT, the 4 pack i just recently bought. So i know their exact amount.