First 2 leaves (spear leaves) turning yellow. Sign of nutrient deficiency or..?

[shnibbles]

hi, just started my first grow. i'm 2 weeks in now, started from seed. recently the first 2 leaves (not the cotyledons) are turning pale/yellow, but the new foliage looks nice and green. i know the cotyledons are supposed to turn yellow and die, but how about the 2 leaves that come after? is this the first sign of nutrient deficiency, or being root bound? over/under watering? enviromental problem? this is happening on all 6 seedlings. today i transplanted them from 16oz solo cups to 2 gal pots. perhaps they've used up all the nutrients in the solo cup? there were roots coming out from the bottom of the soil, and a few out the sides.

indoor. closet box
original organic sea soil mixed with perlite
run off ph is around 7
tap water thats been sitting out for a few days, ph around 7 as well
i've been keeping the soil moist by just misting the top every morning out of fear of over watering
no nutes
8 23w daylight cfl's diy reflector about 6" away
lights are currently on 24/0
around 28 to 30c (86f)
40% humidity
6" duct fan for exhaust. small computer fans for a breeze directed at plants, 2 fans blowing air up at the lights for cooling

any help would be very greatly appreciated!!!

[shnibbles]

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo2_zpsc8d73611.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo2_zpsc8d73611.jpg.html)

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo1_zpsec0d4b53.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo1_zpsec0d4b53.jpg.html)

[polishpollack]

cheap fert is Schultz brand in local hardware store. not too much. misting top doesn't do any good. water through the soil, use drain holes in container, let dry some before next watering. follow fert instructions on container.

[catbuds]

It really sounds over watered by the plant description. Since your misting the top, it would be hard to tell by feeling the soil surface since its always moist. Do what Polishpollack said, water through (that means till water comes out of the drain holes), then allow surface of the soil to DRY before watering again. It will always have more moisture under the surface. Remember, driest on the top getting moister as you go down, so make sure the top is dry before you water again. Roots need air. Without allowing soil surface to dry between waterings, they can't get it. If you loose this batch, start with something expendable. I'm going to suggest tomatoe seeds because their moisture requirements are the same. Just save the seeds from a tomato, clean them on a paper towel, then sprout & plant . Once you succeed with tomatoes with about 6 sets of leaves, you're ready to go on to the more precious cannabis seeds. Hey, its a learning experience. If you've never grown any kind of plant from seed before, better to learn with something cheap or free! Sorry, but you need to learn how to water to have a successful grow. This may seem like a waste of time to you, as I'm sure you're anxious to get your grow started, but if you will take the time to learn this first, everything will fall into place. If you have access to unlimited free bag seed, then it's ok to learn with thoes, but if you are buying expensive seed, try the tomatoes first to save yourself a lot of money.~~~PEACE!~~~

[shnibbles]

thanks guys. i'd let the top of the soil dry before misting, and i'd stick my finger into the soil to try to find moisture further down but it seemed pretty dry. it seemed like my soil dried pretty quick and i would only mist once a day. seemed to work, they were growing nicely until a few days ago they started looking sick. i see what you mean though. there must have been moisture further down in the soil. i've actually got 2 packs of tomato seeds, i'm going to give them a try. thats a good idea catbuds. we'll see how it goes. a good learning experience for sure. thanks again

noticed some new growth today, hopefully a few of them are bouncing back.

indica
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo1_zpsb81b24f9.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo1_zpsb81b24f9.jpg.html)

sativa
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo2_zps9de64e64.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo2_zps9de64e64.jpg.html)

:( though the tips of the yellowing leaves havent gone crispy and curled up like one of the others
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo3_zps1e9a37f5.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo3_zps1e9a37f5.jpg.html)

not sure about this one either..
http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af331/shnibblykins/photo4_zps3fbf4619.jpg (http://s1021.photobucket.com/user/shnibblykins/media/photo4_zps3fbf4619.jpg.html)

[catbuds]

Tomatoes are good to learn with. I always advise people to get used to them first. Better than wasting pot seeds. Soil mixes differ too. Some hold water, some dry out really fast. Once you get used to tomatoes in the mix you're using now, you can experiment with different mediums, but what ever you use, nothings better than shoving your finger in it to feel for moisture. I tried out several meters for a friend trying to help him 'get it right', but they all sucked & I threw them out. The finger never lies! LOL! Just don't plant all your tomatoes at once. Divide them up for several runs, & of course for next spring, nothing beats having your own tomatoes for that 4th of July cook out!
----Seedlings are touchier than mature plants. Once you make it through this, things get easier. Learning with the tomato seedlings will make it easier for you with your next batch. Now go have some FUN!
~~~PEACE!~~~

[lipps]

roots need to grow and they need oxygen, it's a little tricky to keep the roots moist but not soggy, watering until it comes out the bottom at this stage is way to much water in the soil you're using. Get a cheap moisture meter probe and that way you can tell what's going on. Next time go from the 16 oz to a 32 then to the big pot that way there will be more roots. Give em some dark time they do stuff at night too.

[catbuds]

My Bad. Re-read 1st post. I somehow over looked the transplant into 2 gal pots. Yeah, watering through would be too much. I saw the solo cups with roots coming out of the bottom & went on that. Cant figure how I missed the 2gal pots the first time I read it. If you go with a meter, still feel the soil with your finger. When trying to help my friend, I bought three. One never worked at all, the other two were very short lived, under 2 wks. The more expensive one also had a pH meter which worked, but since I always double checked it against my pH test kit it wasn't saving me anything. Yeah, what Lipps said on steping up in pot size one size at a time. Again, sorry I missed the 2 gal pot size. That was a very important thing.

[shnibbles]

no worries. sorry, you mean watering through the 2 gal would be too much at this point? or through the 16oz cups? i haven't watered since transplanting since the soil is moist out of the bag, no pre-watering or anything. i still feel moisture further down so i'm going to wait. i do plan on buying a nice moisture meter. i bought 2 cheap ph meters and they were both way off. a cup of water with a couple drops of vinegar and the meter said the ph was 7! i bought a nice one from a hydro store, but i plan on buying strips or drops just to double check occasionally. but one step at a time..

anyway, i realized i transplanted one of the indica seedlings at 1 week (they're just over 2 weeks old now) because the 2 spears leaves were turning a little pale. this one was growing a little faster than the others and some roots were visible through the drain holes in the cup so i thought it might be becoming root bound. since the transplant it's just keeps growing and growing, while the others stayed in cups until 2 weeks. so maybe the problem is a combo of being root bound and over watering. i'm not sure, but next time i think i'll use see-thru cups inside the red ones, and maybe transplant a little earlier. i'm learning new things everyday!

thanks again

[catbuds]

Watering through would be good for solo cups at this point, but not the 2 gallon pots. It would take too long for the the 2 gals to dry, preventing the roots from getting oxygen, the soil also wouldn't be getting air & would sour. You can water through once you see roots coming out the bottom. Just seeing some roots coming out does not mean root bound. Root bound is when there's more roots than soil. At two wks old, they're not big enough to be root bound even in solo cups. If you want to check roots, pick up cup/container, tilt to the side, tap the bottom, turn a little more & gently slid out. Plants (any kind) grow better when the roots barely hold the soil ball together. That doesn't mean its time to transplant. You'll get used to this & know when its time for that. But when you transplant, go up ONE pot size. Once the plants are larger & in rapid growth, you can jump up in size by maybe 2 sizes. Dont baby them so much, they're plants. Just let them grow for a while.

[Shovelhandle]

I'm at that same point. I have seedlings with only two sets of leaves in 3 gallon bags. I have to water them as if they were still in party cups. I water half around the root zone and half outside of that. I check and water them every day or two. I have my reasons why I have seedlings in the full size bag. If you are curious, check out my indoor grow log.

[shnibbles]

hey just an update, all the plants seem to be doing ok now! whew, i thought i lost almost all of them. i just gave them some very diluted fish fertilizer (holy crap that stuff STINKS) a couple days ago and it appears they've picked up the pace quite a bit too. it's cool watching them grow up, hopefully there will be a couple females! thanks again guys