Unknown Seedling Problem

After my first grow of 2 NL from nirvana proved to be relatively successful, I have found myself back at square one on my second attempt at growing. I planted 3 AK48 Feminized and 3 NL Feminized. All 6 germinated and sprouted. without fail. 2 weeks later, the growth is not nearly where it should be. 3 of the plants ( 2 NL, 1 AK48 ) never produced anything past their cotyledons, so I pulled those . I planted in 6" potters with happy frog soil mixed with perlite. The light used is a 400W Metal Halide dimmed to 50% on the ballast. Temperatures remain between 75-85 degrees and humidity is usually between 45-50% The light was around 2 feet away from the pots, but I have since moved it closer, around 10" from the remaining plants. I did some research, and found that I possibly encountered "damping off" which is entirely possible considering I washed my pots that I was reusing but only with water. Watering schedule was light waterings every other day or so plus spraying twice a day. I had much better results growing and vegging seedlings with CFL's last grow, so I'm wondering if there's a variable I'm missing here. The stems look very weak, the growth is extremely slow and the leaves show some discoloring, and contortion. Any help would be appreciated.

Overwatered/poor watering habits. Water the ENTIRE medium until you get some run off. Then DO NOT water again until the pots feels light. Those size containers with plants that size once watered properly shouldnt need water again for at least a week, probably longer. Stop spraying them also, just killing them with love. Also kick your ballast back to 100% and put it back to 20 inches or so abve the canopy.And my guess is you are overfeeding also....

Thank you. No nutrients have been added and I'll change the watering habits. Is there any hope for these?

The first picture looks bad but the 2nd and 3rd looks ok. Time and Patience my friend. With a little TLC, they will be alright.

NewBean said:

Thank you. No nutrients have been added and I'll change the watering habits. Is there any hope for these?

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No not really but if you persist they might do something. Next time use jiffy pots to start the seedlings and cfls for a week after germination , the rich soil can fuck the seedlings and has done here.

NewBean said:

Thank you. No nutrients have been added and I'll change the watering habits. Is there any hope for these?

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Ouch buddy, I'll tell you what I think. I think they look fcked up but the new growth in those pics appears fine. My suggestion would be similar to everyone else's. Easy on the watering, do not spray them. And besides that they will recover on there own. If you keep it damp in there any longer you'll be saying bye but these look to me very saveable.
Patience will be key and time will tell keep us posted.

*BUDS said:

No not really but if you persist they might do something. Next time use jiffy pots to start the seedlings and cfls for a week after germination , the rich soil can fuck the seedlings and has done here.

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I wouldn't bother with the jiffy pots to start seedlings. the material they use to cover the peat moss chokes the roots when they get bigger. Just get a little bag of peat moss and put it in one of those tiny plastic cups you get from the water fountain.

sure it's not fucked up pH? you normally dont get deficiencies at that size in soil.. most problems like that are pH related

get pH right, stop watering for a few days, don't pull the plant's so easily this is the same plant in the 2 images below

give them time they will bounce back!

Well, I changed my watering habits, stopped spraying, added 2 small fans in my veg cabinet to keep air circulating and have the stems swaying constantly. I also took the MH fixture out and put it in my old 6x32W 6500k CFL fixture which I used to veg my last grow. I will switch back to MH when the plants become hearty enough, but for now I feel as though the CFL's will be a better option for the next week or so. I immediately noticed improvements in the new growth.

NewBean said:

Well, I changed my watering habits, stopped spraying, added 2 small fans in my veg cabinet to keep air circulating and have the stems swaying constantly. I also took the MH fixture out and put it in my old 6x32W 6500k CFL fixture which I used to veg my last grow. I will switch back to MH when the plants become hearty enough, but for now I feel as though the CFL's will be a better option for the next week or so. I immediately noticed improvements in the new growth.

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Thats a noticable improvement from this end . great work man and good luck with the rest of the grow