Help, complete noob

As of yesterday (three days since sprout), my plant was looking fine. It was about 1.75 inches tall, with two leaves sprouted that where almost as large as the cotyledons. on the shelf in a small cabinet (2' by 2' by 3.5) the actually space right now, since it is on a shelf, is about 2 by 2 by 2. I painted the walls of the cabinet a flat white (originally had aluminum foil), yet unfortunately I only have 1 13" flouro in there right now on a 24/0 with a 90 mm pc fan blowing on it 24/7. after reading widowmakers post on how to grow marijuana, I moved my plant closer to the light. instead of being a good 2' from it, it was about 4 inches. After returning home today from work to check, I discovered that the plant had keeled over, with its head almost in the ground. I don't have a digital camera, but i made an image in paint (pretty much complete crap). Im not sure if the problem is that i messed up with the watering cycle, or if it is related to the fact that i moved it close to the light. any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

did u wet the leaves of the plant? were the lights touchin the plant?

im sure that the leave got wet, but no the lights where not touching the plant, for there was a good 4 inches in between the 2.

Re pot it and fill in the soil all the way to just under the cotyledons.
This will help.
You need more light..

im a noob too, but could the fans blowin on it directly for 24/0 be a problem? i didnt use any fans until the 10th day or so. jus had the windows open

do you think if I got another of the same light it would work out ok, or should I completly scrap the idea and go with something else?

It is cuz the plant is stretching for the light and is to weak to support its own weight

DONT wet the leaves =.='

CFL's work best for new growers.The more the better.

ok, the plant has turned a deep brown, so, i dont think its going to make it, but no worries, still 2 outdoor plants, 1 plant already germinated and planted, and 4 plants germinating.

Most new growers tend to overwater thier plants. In the first three or four days unless you started with dry soil that little plant shouldn't be on any watering cycle. Make surew you have good drainage and get a moistuire meter, assuming your using soil. About $15.00 at wllyworld, menards lowes , meijers etc. With a 13 watt cfl you can put it almost touching the plant. Don't have a fan blowing directly on the plant. A gently breeze around the plant is better. VV

since all the walls are painted a flat white, do I need to make a reflective hood for the cfls? would 3 do the job, or no? It is only one plant that im growing inside, so I dont think I need to go all out.

3 will get you started

ok. Is there a formula for the amount of lumens a light will give off, and if there is, how many lumens are needed per plant

I have a liquid fertilzer that my friend has used in the past ( miracle grow), when should I start treatment with that?

Hey dude, sorry bout your loss. + rep for the drawing tho, loved it! laughed my ass off...very informative!

VictorVIcious said:

Most new growers tend to overwater thier plants. In the first three or four days unless you started with dry soil that little plant shouldn't be on any watering cycle. Make surew you have good drainage and get a moistuire meter, assuming your using soil. About $15.00 at wllyworld, menards lowes , meijers etc. With a 13 watt cfl you can put it almost touching the plant. Don't have a fan blowing directly on the plant. A gently breeze around the plant is better. VV

Click to expand...

^^Listen to this guy right here!^^

I was just about to say the plant doesnt need to be watered after the first watering until the soil is completely dry

Also:
What type of soil are you using? Hopefully you didnt start the seedling off in anything like miracle gro or anything thats pre-fertilized.

Do you have a thermometer?

what size pots do you have them in?

whats the pH of your water?

youre not feeding them any nutes yet are you?

I started it off in a generic brand potting soil, but I mixed in some manure and humus, for about a 30/70 manure to soil mix. I didnt start any nutes, and the temp inside the grow area was about 81. Im using distilled water, so I am guessing that it is around 7. the pots are squares, they are 8 inches tall and 6 inches leangth and width.

general rule for thumb... 10,000 lumens per square foot will grow you a good plant...

but way till its vegging nicely before you bump up the amount of lights... you won't need them for a lil bit

best of luck with the grow!!

(oh, and make sure that for veg they're like 6500k spectrum, cool for veg =] )