What Happened to my Seedlings?

Ok, for the last week these seedlings have continued to yellow and stagnate, with little or no growth at all. I don't know if it's overwatering, underwatering, or heat. We've still had some 75 - 80 days here in SoCal. The PH is fine and I am using a single 95w CFL that puts out about 6000 lumens for this seedling stage. I intially had it only a couple inches from them but it seemed to get warm under the reflector hood (up to 90f) so I moved it up a couple more inches. Maybe these bigger CFLs run a lot warmer than the small ones and i need to keep it 5 - 6 inches away??

Anyway, one of the seedlings was obviously doomed so I did an autopsy to see what her roots were like and to check the soil dampness etc. The soil easily came out of the pot, was slightly damp but not clumped at all. The odd thing was her root was constricted, shrunken, and hard just below the soil level..very tough and leathery. Can anyone identify this problem???

I drew a picture I hope might help:

you might want to use a root growth nutrient to promote healthy roots, but it sounds to me that you need more air flow through the soil. you can do this by adding peralite or vermaulite, when you transplant. i also had a problem with seedlings when they wouldnt grow and i found out it was cause my medium temp. was too cold. if your soil is cold just make shure your room temp is average and make shure your water is at room temp. when you water them.

it sounds like you have a damping off problem.this is normally caused by fungal growth.never use outdoor soil or reuse soil from a previous grow.if you must use those types of soils,put them in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes.that should clear up the fungus.
Depending on the size of your grow room,you will need to install adequate ventilation.also use oscillating fans to keep the air moving.until the seedlings have at least two sets of true leaves keep the CFL at least 10" away from the tops of thyem. hope this helps.

I use 33% Perlite, 33% Sierra Organics Potting Mix & 33% Sierra Organics Top Soil. One drop of Superthrive per gallon of distilled water.

Right now Ive got a 265cfm Dayton fan bringing fresh air in but no real exhaust fan. I figured the incoming air would force out the old air since I leave the door open during lights on. But I ordered a 6" Vortex that will be here this week and I'll set it up as an exhaust.

Based on some pictures off damping-off that I looked up on the net, it sure does look similar. I'll bake the soil before my next attempt just to be sure.

Thanks for the replys...

here's a thought.something that i found quite by accident.i was surfing the net oneday and went to google video.just for kicks i typed in "marijuana cultivation" and there was a wealth of videos that walked me through step by step from seed to bud.also youtube has a few.i've got and have read the marijuana growers guide several times but seeing it in a video really helped me put everything together.i've grown off and on for about 10 years now and have certainly made my share of mistakes but i learned something from every mistake.i started out growing under 4 ft flourescent shoplights and believe it or not had some fair success.i currently have 500 watt equivalent CFLS in my flowering room but my HPS is on the way.good luck with yours and happy growing!!

I don't think top soil is a good idea for containers. If you're gonna use soil, I would stick with potting soil. Top soil is heavier and drains slower.

If you are having damping off problems there is a a drainage or overwater issue isn't there? I always heard that problem came from too much moisture leading to fungus, mold etc.. just too wet.

ps-you draw nice by the way and good autopsy report!

pss--if it's not for the top how come they call it topsoil?

I think I have a damping-off problem. These pots I'm using have 2 layer bottoms with drainage holes in bottom inside but then the outside holes are offset from those inside ones. Cool design I guess but they don't drain for shit. I know they don't drain because this is my second attempt using these pots and wanted to mix in more perlite and some peat moss with the potting soil for this grow attempt. While mixing, I found the soil in the bottom of the pots was still wet from watering like a week earlier. Even now, my moisture meter reads off the chart when I shove it all the way down, still. I tried drilling like ten holes in the bottom sides of each pot. If my babies don't start flourishing in a week I'm gonna repot using totally different pots. Last watering I didn't water for 10 days and then only gave them about 8 oz. each with aged, PH adjusted water with Superthrive in it. Any other suggestions, besides the desk fan on 'em and hole drilling I did, is surely welcome. I also shut down 2 of the cfl lights cause my thernometer showed the temp of the soil around 90F (too high). This is like a challenge now and I'm gonna figure this out. 20/20 hindsight tells me I should have gone with completely different pots but now my mission is to fix this shit.

Thanks for all the help. I've baked the soil as suggested and I have more beans germinating that I'll pot tonight. I have hopefully learned something in the process.

I also read on another site that chamomile tea is helpful against damping-off...anyone else substantiate this?