Are these seedlings okay?

[dalvis]

First time grower. Planted on Saturday morning 06/13 in Jiffy pods in neutral soil. They popped up a few days ago. Nuiting with calimagic and water under CFL lamp.

Should I encourage this cotyledon to face up or trust that it will do it on its own?

Also, I’m worried these seedlings are a little tall. They seem to be “reaching” for the light so I lowered my CFL to about a foot from the bottom. Is this the right thing to do or is this normal for them to be so tall (using bag seeds so not sure of the strain)?

Finally, is it safe to assume the other 3 are duds that won’t germinate? If so, should I try to germinate more seeds while these grow? I’m hoping for 3 plants in my garden and assuming 50/50 females I don’t want to be stuck with 3 males and all this work for nothing.

Sorry I’m asking noob questions but this is all new territory for me. Thanks for any advice that you all can provide!

[Tersky]

First, they dont need nutes until they have their first set of true leaves. Second, they have stretched a considerable amount, lower you lights. No clue about the seeds that wont pop, but if you feed them right after poping that can kill the seed too so that might be what happened. Or they are duds. Did you buy them from a reputable breeder?

[dalvis]

Didn’t buy them at all. Just seeds that been saved up over the years (first grow so trying to take theory to practice before I drop more $$$ on seed bank). As far as the stretching that’s what I figured. Lowered the light last night so hopefully that improves things.

Will start going to straight water for now. Thanks for the advice.

[Tersky]

Np we all have to learn somehow. I was going to say if they were from a breeder they may refund some but if just some bag weed thats kinda how it goes. I forgot the cotyledon issue. Like flowerchyld i would leave it alone. the most i would do is put a literal drop of water on the leaves. Sometimes the membrane holding it together dries causing the leaves to stick. A drop of water should moisten the membrane enough for the leaves to pop free. Like i said a drop. Use a toothpick or something to gently place the drop of water on top and it should absorb it.

[F10werChyld]

Don't mess with the cotyledons, they'll work it out on their own. At this stage of life they are very fragile, just water until the true leaves come out, then very light feedings until you have 5 or 6 nodes.

[dalvis]

Yeah I think this is my first of many learning lessons. Ordered a 1-3 light socket extender and lowered the lights. Just from lowering the light they seem more interested in growing out versus up. Gone to straight water as well. Thanks for all of the advice!

[dalvis]

Update: looks like they aren’t gonna make it. Although they stopped growing vertically after I lowered the light, the stem wasn’t strong enough to support the leaves. Had one that fell overnight and one that fell while I was at work. Hopefully this last one stays up. Planted two more seeds in response so hopefully they pop up and grow properly.

Added more CFLs (shown in picture) so hopefully that fixes my future seedlings from getting too tall. I guess losing a plant after 1 week isn’t as bad as losing one a few months into the grow. But who knows a miracle could happen and these little gals could pop back up.

Question: These are 60W CFLs. Is that gonna be too much light? The area below them feels warm, but not hot. I don’t want to overcompensate though. The picture looks dark but it is bright af in there.