Giving another go - please critique -

After two wildly successful initial grows, I havent been able to get past the seedling stage in about 8 or 9 attempts over the past 2 years. Never mind how I got to where I am today, but here is my setup, please critique, I really want a success here.

Grow setup -
4x4 Secret Jardin II tent -
6" monstrous carbon filter
6" sealed reflector for 600w HPS (flower phase)
6" inline whisper quit (panny) 360 cfm fan
150w HQI metal halide, 15k color temp, 2x 15w t5 HO, 4x blue led in a sealed hood (6500k MH bulb is en route) - veggie phase
handheld digital pH tester

Medium - coco coir + perlite
Nutes - Jungle Juice 3 part system

So far, got 6 buns that just came out of the oven. 1x femaleseeds.nl Pure Ak, 1x femaleseeds.nl Ice Grapefruit, 2x Nirvana blue mystic reg, 2x Nirvana aura indica regs -

36 hours since the broke the surface and they seem to be ok. Possible 1 runt. My last failure occurred because seven days in, the seedlings halted all growth because of a deficiency, I added epsom salts which seemed to help, but no ph tester and things all ended up dead a week later.

So my first question is, since my last failure was because of deficiencies in soil, and I just now switched to coco coir, wouldnt it be prudent of me to add a very small amount of jungle juice micro to every other or every 3rd watering, especially since coco coir has no nutritional load on its own? My thinking is that if deficiencies hit early on before in soil, they will definitely come on quickly in coir.

And help and critique would be well appreciated. The jungle juice micro for seedlings, they recommend for seedlings 1ml per liter which comes out to 3.7ml in a gallon - is that dosed high? should I cut in to maybe 2ml or 1.5ml for fresh seedlingS?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Bahh - the seedlings are stretching all to hell with the hqi light.

Where did you come up with a 15K light? Switch to CFL before it goes to hell more.

Agree with Hotrod, but also, a day and half old and you want to feed?
Why?

Also not.sure why you ran into deficiencies a week into veg in soil something isn't right here

cfl and fluorescent are solid performers for me. Id make the switch now...... and dont give nutes, they're just too young.

Aye - ok.. I have a 6500k HQI bulb in the air now, should be here soon.

Ill hold off on feeding. I havent watered yet because if i take a tiny pinch of medium and squeeze, my fingers become wet. Ill switch to CFL's until the bulb comes in.

Ok - just put them under 5x13w CFLs and 1x26w CFL. Those will have to work until that bulb gets in, hopefully they will.

Buggers, it was too late. The stems just shriveled up to nothing. Ok, going to pop 6 more - 1x pure ak(fem), 1x iced grapefruit (fem), 2x super skunk, and 2x aura indica

dont give nutes, they're just too young.....nothing for 2 weeks but water PERIOD

Ok - I am going to do nothing but water. I put 2x fem iced Grapefruit, 1x fem pure ax, and 3 x super skunk reg. I switched back to soil + perlite since that was what I used and was successful the first 2 times.

cool, lets make sure you have it dialed in so you get results this time. Tell us about seed starter system-
-the watering schedule-you plan on using.
-light distance from seelings when sprouted-when

Quick question - should I order something besides the HQI light? I have that 6500k bulb coming in, but HQI metal halides arent really tested for MJ.

What would you do? Money isnt the issue. I want to know if you would buy a 250w MH, like a normal bulb / ballast? Or maybe you have heard of someone vegging successfully with an HQI and the 6500k bulb should work fine? I would certainly like to not put out the money if I dont need too. WWYD?

Ok, so depending on what someone says about the light -

Ill either be using the 150w 6500k HQI or 250W normal MH in sealed, air cooled reflector (non cool tube).

I started the seeds in soil + 25 - 35% perlite. A small 3" starter pot with big holes for drainage in the bottom. A single watering to get the seeds started - not so much that it came gushing out the bottom.

Watering schedule - when the soil is dry to my second knuckle. Then and only then. Ill will refrain from over-treating my plants.

Feeding schedule - Ill wait until 14 days as a minimum.

Light schedule - 24/0 as I am using a tent and I own my own home, so it can just run.

Light distance - Well, moving the seedlings within 6" of the light caused all the seedlings to collapse and stems shrivel up - but the main plant part with the leaves never shriveled up, it just became detached from the main stem. The tap root had a nice young root system already going, it was so odd.

Ill try 8" as long as my hand doesnt get hot. so 8" from the seedlings from sprout.

Ok back in the swing - got 2 that broke the surface (the reg super skunks I think) - as luck would have it, my 6500k HQI bulb arrived. I have to say, the light is still very blue.

Anything I should or shouldnt be doing? as of now, the seedlings look super healthy.

I am not familiar with your light question. If you were starting a small grow from scratch id suggest T5 for veg in a 3ft or 6 ft. As for flower Id get a 400 min hps. or higher if dimmable. Lumetek sp. is a great company and now the dimmable allows you to go down a notch if needed maybe due to size grow or heat from 600 to 400 / 400 to 250.

"Watering schedule - when the soil is dry to my second knuckle. Then and only then. Ill will refrain from over-treating my plants." I am suggesting a change here. You need to use the weight of the pot trick. When you water them pick up a full pot noting the total weight. Pick the same pot up day 3 and 4 noting how little it weights. You know its water time when light. Get a good feel for this tool. Also, challenge yourself in a couple waterings down the line to see how long you can hold out on watering before the leaves start to drop. Your goal is to water just before leaves drop. Weed/s in general thrive when allowed to dry out a bit. This really is a big deal. As a rule small potted plants starters in cup size or larger need watering about day 3 to 5. Big pots like 2 or 3 gallons range from 4-7 days. what soil? Fox farm ocean forest will get you going without issues. Some of this has to do with the pots used and how hot the room is from a 400 or larger light.

- Id also go to 18 hr. light vs. 24 as IMO the roots need some sleep and dark allows them to focus.

oh, Do you have a fan blowing on em? A moving fan needs to go across the plants from the time they break ground. Good to keep them cool and strengthen the roots/stem structure to hold big buds.

Fuck me... Even the 6500k HQI bulb is no good for our favorite plant. Nobody waste your time on these HQI MH bulbs. The stems are getting really thinned out again and they are stretching. Thank god I ordered that standard MH light anyway (250w) and should be here tomorrow. Hopefully they will hang in there until then.

Just got more seeds from the attitude so if these die again, Ill put some new ones in the soil.

Thats negative on the fan. Wife is instructed to pick one up today. Damn these hqi lights. Something is fundamentally different with them.

Looks like I was able to swap to cfl quick enough - the stems immediately straightened out and dont feel as weak / gummy / hard to explain. Maybe its all the UV the HQI bulbs give off? The UV isnt blocked like standard MH lights.

Ive heard this being discussed so many times now, but since im a first time grower i havent got anything to compare with.
18/6 vs 24/0 - which is better?

Well, the starter pots dried out, so I gave a watering of 6.8ph bottled water. They are growing slowly, but they havent died yet. a couple show the very beginnings of the leaves yellowing (first pair of single blade leaves).

Under a 250w - how many days until the second set of leaves are fully formed? Am I lagging at this point? Seems terribly slow for a 250w mh.

Found a two gnats in the tent. Ordered mosquito dunks to rectify.