light burn, nute burn, or nute deficiency? hmm

first off, this is more of a warmup, testing things. getting a feel for growing. i know my medium is less than stellar, but its just where i want to start. but not sure if the soil itself is causing burn, or not enough nutes at this point in its life, or heat/light burn and stress. or is it time to acutally fertilize? thoughts?? see pics. thanks

What is your experience level? first time

Your Equipment:
.1) Type and wattage of lights. 600w HPS
.2) Distance from tops?:18inches
.3) Reflector type? hydrofarm daystar
.4) Is there a consistent fresh air supply?: yes
.5) Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan?: both
.6) What are the bulb wattages, kelvin ratings, and schedule?: 18h/day

Your medium:
.7) Specific brand and type of soil, (coco, peat based soilless...) and anything you've added to it. (vermiculite, perlite, worm castings...): miracle grow potting soil
.8) Size of container.: 1gal
.9) Did you use peat pucks (or similar) to root clones or germinate seedlings?: yes

Your nutrients and water:
10) Source of water? (tap, bottled or filtered) What's it's ph before adjusting?: tap. 7.1
11) Method of checking water ph. (ph pen, test strips, aquarium test kit...): hannah PH meter
12) Method of adjusting water ph. (phosphoric acid, white vinegar, hydrated lime, PH Up...): havent yet
13) Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle. List dosages (quantity per gallon) and current feeding schedule.: no nutes, just tap
14) How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering?: 2 days or so, its drying out soil pretty quickly
15) Any additives or tea's? (Superthrive, CalMag, molasses, Mother's Earth...): none
16) Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate?: no soil PH measured yet
17) What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph?: i know it goes in at 7.1 havent tested run off.
18) Do you foliar feed? If so, with what, how often, and at what time do you spray?: no

Your growroom:
19) Indoors or outdoors?: indoors
20) What size of closet, room or hut?: basement crawlspace
21) What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? ...With lights off?: on, 84-81F, 40%hum; off 64-72, 40%hum
22) Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom?: none

Your strain:
23) What strain are you growing?: lowryder autoflower fem
24) From seeds or clones?: seeds
25) Is this an autoflower strain?: yes

A one gallon container is a tad large for a seedling. Works best to start smaller and work-up in size. Saves nutrients, ph adjusting liquids, and the plants seem to prefer a little root bondage.

Might want to raise the lights a half a foot (or more) till a tad stronger and able to handle the heat and light intensity. Seedlings won't benefit if fried, and your medium should stay moist longer. Deep watering with properly ph'ds water, let dry. If this means watering once or twice a day, then so be it. No way around it unless you crack seeds with CFL's or Fluorescents.

The chunky organics in your MG are a bitch for young roots to navigate. Might want to crumble it up better before adding seeds.

MG is notorious for being difficult for newbies, seedlings and clones. But as long as you don't jump the gun on additives and nutrients and stuff, they usually handle it fine. Raising the lights help them better handle the MG nutrient assault, too.

Some like to add some extra perlite to their MG after their first transplant to lighten the mix a tad. It helps, especially if not yet used to watering schedules and such.

Keeping temps more consistent helps seedlings remain strong. They don't like chills.

Ingoing ph is a tad high, but the buffers in the MG will handle that for a while. If narrowed down to a ph problem, you might need phDown or something similar to lower your ingoing water ph. Fresh potting mix should be fine for runoff for at least a month depending on what and how much buffering additive they've used.

I'm going to bet on pH, here, as too 'hot' of a soil will start the issue from the bottom and work up by nutrient imbalance (The seedling should be feeding off of its cotyledons anyways at this stage.)

One of the first things I was taught years ago, is to use your cotelydons as an early indicator of optimal growth. The longer they last, the closer you are to being on the right track.

appreciate all the feedback and advice. i was gonna go with FF, but got cheap. (Too cheap). will also attempt to regulate my h2o and pH as well. :)