Tall and Lanky seedling?

I recently started some Wonder Woman and Eldorado Feminized seeds from Nirvana and they are really tall and lanky from the start! I feel like they're too top heavy and I want to have a successful run with these girls! Any advice on how to thicken the stems up quick? They are only 2 weeks old in this picture. They seem to be growing slow which I'm not use to because my first few grows were hydroponic and they grew super fast in 2 weeks and now I'm trying out soil. Using Fox Farm Ocean forest soil. I've only been watering with distilled water so far with a few drops of rapid start for root development, but I'm about to start some mild nutes for veg. When should I top them? I don't want to stunt them this early on! Should I wait for the 3rd set of true leaves? I'm just really worried about how lanky they are. Any advice from the experts?


Temps 77 - 82 degrees usually 78

Humidity 45 - 35 has been on the lower side around 37 as I don't have a humidifier or dehumidifier. Just AC and I leave the door open for exhaust, I am eventually going to exhaust out of the room with an inline fan.

lighting 4 - 48in T8 fluorescent bulbs, daylight & sunlight 18 on 6 off

I would top after the 4th set of leaves. Try a fan, not too close or the stems could break, to get the stems a little stronger. I would add soil to top to cover most the stem.

I have a fan pointing indirectly on them already, I heard covering the stem up with soil would choke it. Is it really ok to cover them say an inch or so?

Found this article which says you can bury them up to the first node in each stage of transplanting! Good to know, I will post an update soon! Thanks!

http://www.cannabis.info/UK/library/7200-how-to-take-care-of-seedlings/

Spread your middle fingers an place the stem in between them, then GENTLY give the stem a shake from side to side, for 3-4 seconds on a daily basis! and it should toughen up your plants stem in no time.

your know your doing it right as they will in time let off a very nice scented aroma as a thanks for waking them up.

Stems can be buried without harm, FWIW.

JD

yeah I have buried my stem about 1" down every time I've transplanted, it really sturdies up the stem IME.

Some plants disposition is to stretch initially and burying them at transplant time is no different than applying this procedure with Tomato plants .

Thanks for the advice everyone! I went ahead and added more soil all the way to the top, they're doing fine and are looking more sturdy! I will post new pics soon!

So it's been 18 days and here is what the girls are looking like. I filled an inch or more soil in the buckets to sturdy up the little stems, hopefully they will beef up in the weeks to come! I have been watering every other day alternating nutes and just regular distilled water. I got a bunch of free nutes from the hydro store so I'm using what I got. Two part Flora Duo and some Gen Hydro Rapid Start and throwing in a little Liquid Karma. Temps are stating in the 76 - 80 range and I'm keeping air flow in the room. I just want these things to grow faster! Are they small for 18 days? They were just watered in the pics so the leaves aren't as perky as they normally are.

javadog is correct

i start seeds in red cups 1/2 filled wit starter soil
as they stretch up i add soil till we reach right below rim of cup

if i need to at transplant to home pot i will sink in deeper
i have transplanted as deep as up to cotlydons wit no problems

a circulating fan on them will thicken stems
and make plants stronger
starting in home pots have ups and downs

a weed plant will grow along the ground making roots all the way - like a vine
all the little fuzzys can turn to roots if if touching soil

gluck

Bury the stem like everyone says, get fan on them, also if those are T8 I would get them right on top of the plants like one inch above....T8 is kinda week and I noticed my plants stretch under them and grow slower than using T5 or CFL.