ahhh mann! nobody mentioned perlite! that would have helped prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged.
I couldnt see the pictures, hopefully there is some perlite in that soil. Not the end of the world if it doesnt but, don't be too eager to water or youll down it.
Your one gallon container should work just fine so long as it has holes in the bottom
Where did you get the original soil from? was it just backyard dirt? Why on earth did it have a pH of 8? What's the pH of your water?
It's always a good idea to leave your tapwater out overnight btw, though I doubt that was in anyway related to the problem
Hows the pH of your new soil? Don't worry about giving it nutients for some time yet, if you had given it 1/4 strength like you were thinking youd have only made things worse.
Your still going to have a runt, but it sounds like now you might at least get a joint or two
Oh yea the "hairs" your seeing are nothing, they grow out at every node, whether male or female, I don't really know what they do, but just ignore them. when you see pistils or balls itll look different you'll know when the preflowers show up what they are. You'll have to wait about a week after the preflowers show before they can be identified as male or female
Hopefully you get another seed soon enough