1 week old sprouts bent over???

hi all ive just set up an ebb'n'flow system in a cupboard, im using all clay balls as my medium and germinated the seeds in rockwool before transplanting into the system, after 1 week they have just bent over and are dying, the first few days were going great they were about 2-3 inches and had 1 set of the serrated leaves with the another set starting to come out. i am using a 400w hps light along with a small fluro bulb, set about 8-12 inches above the plants, sum1 please help me!!!!!!

Just use the fluro bulbs while they are seedlings. 400 HID is way to much heat and light right now. They won't need that until they develop several sets of serrated leaves. Also, they will not need much in the way of nutrients for a couple of weeks. Look at UB plants moisture problems pages and see if they exhibit any these signs.

https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/150004-plant-moisture-stress-symptoms-solutions.html

good luck.

mm

Most likely it's one of the three: Too much water, Not enough light, or Not planted deep enough.

well its not a case of not enough light cuz i got fluro and hps running at 23/1 on/off, and watering is set at every 4 hours for 15mins, and plants are in rockwool so im guessing they are planted deep enough.
Will post some pics

sorry they are pretty hard too see

Hard to say if it's over watered but that often leads to a weak stem at the base. I'd recommend burying it in the hydroton just below the cotyledons at the least to give them some more support. They'll stretch back out a bit in a couple days.

The one shaped like a U and the slanted one look ok they just haven't uprighted themselves yet. Get the light on them more directly and that'll perk them up a bit.

they were perfectly upright tho thats the problem, and so your saying bury the whole rockwool cube in the clay balls? is it good if the rockwool cube gets wet?

what is the humidity? It should be 70-80%. If not, put some clear plastic cups over each one. Plant cells including those in the stems are primarily composed of water and usually slump if transpiring more than can they can uptake from root system. BTW, seedling need hardly any water. I hand water at this point b/c my sphagnum peat moss substrate holds enough water for almost a week (at this stage) in 16oz dixie cups. Just a thought.

mm

oh and the closest one in the first pic feels very dry like almost crispy? 400w hps too close? shouldnt be using it yet?
its weird tho cuz the others feel fine?

how do i check humidity?

get a good thermometer with min/max temp. and humidistat attached. Shouldn't be more than $20 at a hardware store. If you have a harbor freight in the neighborhood than you can get one for less than $10.

mm

i meant hygrometer. get something like these.

http://www.google.com/products?q=hygrometer&hl=en&aq=f

mm

ok ive turned off the hps light and left the fluro on, the fluro is a big single bulb like an outside light, ive turned off the ebb and flow and just left the rockwool cubes damp, and i buried the rockwool into the clay balls any other suggestions??

Make sure that the fluoros are only 2-3 inches away. i assume they are t8, right. that would be 23w? How much total? i would buy another 23w compact fluorescent and place it at the same height as the tube. You can use the HID in 1-2 weeks. Just place it up high 25+ inches and move it down slightly as they get bigger. You can tell if they need more light by how much the stretch between nodes and if the leaves look like they are praying toward the light.

someone else chime in if i'm giving bad advice.

mm

No I think it's definitely the HPS. lol that's overkill, especially at only 12 inches, I'm surprised they didn't catch on fire. Should place it at least 2-3 feet away when your plant is that small...
Seedlings don't need that much light, can't use that much light.
Consider how much space your light covers, then consider how little space all of the plant leaves take up. You're just wasting electricity...
So you won't need the HPS until they hit their 3rd node or 1st five-blade leaf set anyway.

also, what's your timer set to? cus your medium looks really dry. Seedlings dry out really easily. I grow in soil so.. once the soil dries out they start to shrivel and die pretty fast. I'm guessing it's the same in hydro.

being winter tho its getting to down to like 10 degrees celcius, so im thinking just having the fluro wont provide any heat, i think the fluro is like 35w, my watering schedule is every 4 hours for 15mins but ive turned it off atm and am just handwatering the rockwool cubes, is it ok to have it flood upto and including the rockwool???

I think in ebb and flow systems the roots should never be allowed to dry out. I'm not familiar with this system but that's just my guess.
and I always thought in ebb and flow that you flood the tray once for a few seconds to a minute and then 5-10 min off or something.

so I think you maybe doing it wrong but someone else should chime it.

also, your plants are still at seedling stage... I believe the roots have barely grown into the clay balls.. So if the rockwool is dried out, then your roots aren't getting any water...