2x2x4' (ft). cab - 250W air cooled MH connected directly to a 4" vortex

they're in 3" peat cups, with just regular peat foss (i believe) germination soil without any nutrients.

I know they shouldn't be under this light, the light is 2' (ft.) away, but i've read people using HID's from the beginning. (i just moved the light to 30.5" in.)I check on them twice a day, but due to the heat and these peat cups they dry up real quick so I water twice a day - once in the morning and once at night, just a little bit to make sure they stay moist. My last seedling died under 2 - 30W CFL's, since cups dried up (it's what I was told from this site), I was watering every 3 days. So, I decided to just put them under HID and just water more frequently, they've been under the light for a few weeks (i guess, don't know exactly, should've wrote it down, planted seed directly into soil), so I guess it's ok to just keep them in there? although leaves are turning yellow so I'm concerned. also one of the bottom leaves has some kind of dark spot, don't know what that's from.

[dan kay]

what's the size of those pots?
how do you tell if they are dry?
have you used any nutes?
what's your water pH?
what's the temprature at the top of the plants?

Originally Posted by dan kay

what's the size of those pots?
how do you tell if they are dry?
have you used any nutes?
what's your water pH?
what's the temprature at the top of the plants?

3" pots, just put one of them in a 1.25 qt. pot so I can water less, I used fox farms ocean forest, I think it's going to shock the plant, since OF is very strong. I'll see how it does and if it shocks the plant, I'll put the 2nd seedling into the same regular germination soil instead of OF.

haven't used any nutes

you can tell from the cup itself if it's dry since when you water it these peat cups are like cardboard and get very stiff when they're dry , and the top of the soil is dry.

not sure about water ph, haven't checked that in the beginning used tap water and distilled water then switched to spring water and now distilled water.

not sure about temp. at top of the plant, but the bottom of the cab varies, 74-80 degrees

[dan kay]

did you see any roots when you transplanted? with those pots that the soil can dry out from the sides all the way down its possible the sides were all dry but the middle was still moist.

so you think they're turning yellow from too much water?

i didn't pay attention to the roots when I transplanted

[MynameStitch]

your soil your using is first to strong for seedlings but that will most likley be your next problem
you should use a seedling mixture for a week or 2 then transplant into fox farm

also how often ar you watering your soil looks like its saturated

the roots on that seedling are not big enough to absorb all that water the yellowing is caused by overwatering and its lacking o2 causing the plants to loose nitrogen
nitrogen is poorly abosrbed in soggy soils

most likley in order to save them you will need to get them out of that soil
are those peat pots your using?

yeah peat pots, and one of them is in a seedling mixture, the other one has been transplanted into fox farms after it's been 2 weeks+ since it's sprouted, they're growing real slow. i'll water less and see what happens, they just dry up real quick with that light and those peat cups. i've been watering twice a day. i'll go to every 2-3 days and see what happens.

[br26]

i don't use the mini peat pots for the reason of them drying out with the youngins. i would agree with Mynameisstitch, when using another seedling mix until you transplant again. make sure the seedling soil is near the same components beside the nutrient addatives. i usually get fert burns in the beggining, if starting from this soil. keep the humidity up too, this will help out the seedlings.

Originally Posted by br26

i don't use the mini peat pots for the reason of them drying out with the youngins. i would agree with Mynameisstitch, when using another seedling mix until you transplant again. make sure the seedling soil is near the same components beside the nutrient addatives. i usually get fert burns in the beggining, if starting from this soil. keep the humidity up too, this will help out the seedlings.

my humidity is really low around 24% what can I do to increase this?