Vegging: 2nd week/1st grow, any suggestions?

Today is my 13th day since germinating and they seem to be growing pretty slow. I started them off 18/6 with 250 hps lights and after reading around the message board the past 2 weeks I decided to purchase some floros today. SO I have added the florecent light about 2 inches away from the seedlings and I wasnt sure If I could stop using the hps so I also have that lamp running. I have good ventilation, temp has been between 70-85* and humidity ranging 45%-58%. Water ph levels are kept at about 6-6.5 and have been keeping soil moist-dry, moisture meter normally reads moist. Good soil, Im using happy frog and will be starting to give nutes at 3rd week.

This is my first grown and I am looking for any suggestions (lights, under/over watering, transplanting, anything) on how to improve growing conditions and get my girls larger and healthier. Compared to other pictures on here they seem to be lagging behind, especially the one on the lower left. I thinks its because of the lack of blue rays from floros so hopefully that makes a difference. I appreciate any of your response and I am open for any comments and critism!

(photos taken today, 3 of 4 seedlings are slightly streched from the begining, 1 was accidentally bent in half and was re-planted up the about 3/4" below leaves, seems to be doing fine now.)

how far away are them ft's? as you will need them 1" away at the most, i wood have them nerly tuching, thay are streching as you are, useing that hps, just use them ft's for veg and get sum 25w cfl on them aswell, and use the hps for flowering,,good luck

I lowered the floros to where they are almost touching, less than an inch away like you suggested. Since I am 2 weeks in to vegging do you think it is still safe to turn off the hps and just have the floros or are the plants already use to receiving that much light. I am using both at the moment, floros are almost touching seedlings and hps is about 20-24 inches away, they seem to have stopped streching after the first week but I still think they are developing their leaves rather slowly. Thanks again!

Lava,,dude,,seedlings are very fragile when they pop out,,what you do in the first few days is critical to your plant makin it,,you should not use a hps light on brand new seedlings,,as for the floro's,,they are better,,but give yur plants some time to recover from being blasted at birth,,here is a seedling in dirt,,under a floro at first,,now under a cfl,,that is,,,only 11 days old,,,

Keep on Growin

HoLE

you dont need the hps, its just a wast, wott watts are them ft's? and how long? as for me thay will grow faster with sum chep cfl's

Your lighting is definitely the problem. I agree with the above user. Let them recover a bit. You also need to think about how you want to transfer them, as that small cup is not going to do much.

Also, how long are you exposing them to light? What kind of veg cycle are you on?

I thank your for all your response! I definately need to do something about the lighting asap! At first I did not want to remove the hps because of the shock they may receive without them, but I think dog is right they are a waste and are probably doing more harm than good. How long should I let them recover for? Should I just remove the hps and add some cfls? I bought some of those curly energy saver bulbs for around the house, are those good enough or do I need to purchase specific ones for growing? Im currently growing 4 plants at a 18/6 light cycle.

Hole, my babies are no where near the size of yours and mine are 14 days old (including germing in soil filled cups). Im freaking out! Do you have any other suggestions on how to improve my plants conditions? They havnt really grown much since the first week and have been about the same size for about 5 days.

Bigdaddy should I transplant them into bigger pots now or wait until they are a little stronger at the third week? Also should I begin using nutes at the third week also?

Thanks...ANY input is appreciated.

I would put the floro's about 4-5 inches away for4 a bit,,and just let em re-coop a bit,,a good floro won't make it stretch at that distance,,if in soil,,water about 200-250 mills a night for a week,,after that I don't consider it a seedling anymore,,and start it on 1/8 nutes for a week,,each week increasing,,so at 4 weeks they are on full nutes,,and lovin it,,watering evgery other day,,then after a while longer,,every 3 days,,hope this helps,,

Keep on Growin

HoLE

so I turned off the 250w hps light and have my lil ones under the floro and for now I added 2 cfl lights I bought for the house yesterday. Not sure if they are the right kind since I dont know much about cfl's but I added them in so that they wouldnt stress from the reduction of light. Hole, do you think I should keep the same light cycle w/floros & cfls 18/6 or increase it since they were getting stronger lights before? Im worried I may loose them if I put them under too much stress but I also want them to start developing their leaves faster. Thanks again -Cessa