first time grower running into some issues

hey all, just like to start by saying im brand new to these forums and pretty much brand new to growing. i dont have a lot of knowledge on plants so bear with me. i started my two babies on 5/25. theyre looking healthy, but tomorrow will be the start of week 4 and the taller of the two just barely hits 3.5" with the other at 2.75". is this a normal growth rate? the stems look a bit skinny too. and the bottom leaves are getting chewed through. i just found like 5 of those suckers and they look like little tiny flies with green spots under the wings. theyre really small. there were also very small caterpillar type things on the under sides of the chewed leaves. heres a few pics so you can see what im talking about. the first three are of plant 1 ("Stone Cold") and the last two are plant 2 ("Gengar")

The bottom leaves will normally die and fall off as the plant grows. It looks like they're 'stretching' a bit...a sign of insufficient lighting (it would help to know which strain(s) you're growing). Make sure the flouros are no higher that 4" above the plant tops. The 4ft dual bulb (40W each) that you get from Lowes/HD for $8 work very well...and you can raise/lower the fixture as needed. Make sure not to use any ferts for the first few weeks. Best of luck.

and a fan blowing lightly on your plants will thicken up those stems as for the bugs i use hot shot insect traps from home depot there about $5 they take care of everything from house flys to spider mites

good luck-Bomb

yea im not sure of the grow bulbs, theyre organic growing lites from home depot with offlite or something, came in a yellow/orange box, but i got two of those going on a 19/5 schedule. theyre about 5 inches away from the light now, but the light has stayed in the same spot since they started. i have seen an increase in growth rate over the past few days, maybe because theyre getting more light the taller they grow? if thats the case then all i really need to worry about is when to transplant. any tips? (tomorrow is day 1 of week 4)

Those aren't good lights, period. Get the CFL's (fits in normal socket, also at lowes) or the shoplights like the previous poster mentioned. Keep them more in the realm of one to two inches within those shoplight bulbs. Get white or eco light deluxe from ge (blue) for veg and kitchen and bath or soft white (red) for flower.

One foot of plant per gallon. Let it be not too dry or wet and slide the dirt out (hold by rootball/soilt and not the stem) and transplant as usual.

GL,
:jointsmile: Bree

when do you think i should transplant?

When you see roots at the bottom, plants taking in much more water at each feed, they droop easily. You could do it now. Remember to put a fan on them....

:jointsmile: Bree

spray watered dish soap on leaves and it gets rid of bugs but always mist with water too