First time grow, seedling problems...

Below is my very basic and somewhat bog-standard setup which i made in my attic. I am getting a bit concerned for my seedlings because alot of them have not even sprouted yet. As the picture shows, i only have 2 seedlings that are well on their way in each pot.

The setup consists of a radiator (its quite cold in my attic) and overhead cover to stop the heat from rising, two 27w reflective fluorescent lamps. I noticed that the seedlings in the centre were growing alot faster than the outer ones, i think this was because of the uneven light distrubtion so i decided to add another two 50w halogen lamps supported by a frame (spaced about at least one foot away from the pots).

One of the leaves i noticed has curled down a bit aswell.
Can anyone tell me where i'm going wrong?

I forgot to mention that I used multi-purpose compost and grit sand to fill the pots. The temperature Ive maintained at a steady 20 degrees, and my attic already has a vent.
Ive had to spray my seedlings regularly because even after a few days the top 2 inches of the soil gets dry.
They get about 16-18 hours of light everyday too.

You say you "spray" the soil ever few days? With my very recent seedlings I sprayed the soil as well but mine would dry out in a few HOURS....not days. Depending on how much you saturate the soil, they could be starving!!

I could be wrong but you might need to water them more than once every few days with a "spray". Also, how old are those seedlings? Did you germinate them before putting them in soil?

My plants are only about a week old, i know its early days but i dont understand why its happening. When i said i spray them i meant with a spray bottle, but im afraid of overwatering them and there is still plenty of moisture at the bottom of the pots.
I did germinate them, it took about 2 days. Maybe i should water them more often?
I just dont get why the outer seeds havent even cracked open.

Only ONE seed per pot.
Smaller pots.
Finer soil.
Water gently, don't spray.
Seeds must be planted at a depth of 4x their diameter (in this case, no deeper than 1cm) and kept moist , not soggy, until they sprout.
Please read the link in my signature. It will help you with these basics.

Great...so now what? start over?

Are those bagseeds or did you go out and buy seeds?
If they are bagseeds, go ahead and grow them for another couple weeks watering lightly but normally, not misting, and see if they turn yellow. That will tell you if your soil is no good.
If they are bought seeds, you can probably scoop them out and re-pot each one individually in a party cup with some holes punched in it, and good seedling soil. Take a good sized scoop of dirt out deep and around the seedling so you don't damage the roots.
Before you do anything else, familiarize yourself with the needs of the plant at each life stage.

They are bagged seeds, so does that mean i should just wait?

Since they are just bag seed, you can use them to do a quick test run and see if you have any other problems before you use seeds you REALLY care about.
If you can grow a plant to 5 sets of leaves, which only takes a couple weeks, you will know what changes you need to make to your grow. Test runs are GOOD.

Thing is, I care about both of them, they don't come cheap. I think the sprouting may be just because the lighting was poor and unevenly distributed. But im not sure.

Seeds don't need light to sprout. Yours are LAYING on the soil surface, dry... won't sprout like that. They need good contact with a moist soil.

Have you read any of the FAQs or grow guide stickies on the site yet?

Keep growing what you have until they die or whatever, to test your setup. I keep a really good eye on my seedlings. Going to your attic every few days might be all right later on or when you know your set up is sufficient or not but right now you need to make sure that soil stays moist to get the seeds to pop out.

I've seen 2 basic methods of keeping the soil moist which would be spraying using a spray bottle and gently watering your seed in the soil (which will allow you to have less time watering and more time smoking while waiting on the seedling). The spray method works, but the soil drys out much quicker than if you water the soil like Stinky suggests. Since it seems like you don't wanna sleep in your attic checking on the the seedling every 3 or so hours, use stinkys suggestion and gently water the seedling not spray.

I used the spray method this grow and it worked fine but I had to spray them every or so 4 hours. My grow box is quite warm so yeah. Now that I am watering normally, I don't have to check to see if they need watering maybe once a day or 2 day (although I pop in on them all the time, I love plants, well wait, I love weed). :D

Ive now noticed that some of the leaves are curling down and gone slightly pale in colour

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HiAsAKite

I used multi-purpose compost and grit sand to fill the pots.

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Just using compost and sand? Besides what Stinky said, I'd get some real potting soil. Too much nitrogen (compost) can/will kill a seedling.

Take Stinky's advice to heart, anytime you hear it. She isn't going to steer you wrong.

Only ONE seed per pot.

Cannabis grows extensive root systems, and in fairly short periods of time. Letting them get past the seedling stage without transplanting into individual pots is almost certainly going to force you to separate the roots. Most likely damaging them, and stunting the growth of the plant.

Smaller pots.

Smaller pots need to be tended to more frequently (watered more often), but you're not as likely to overwater, which can drown young seedlings.

Finer soil.

Lots of compost, while certainly good at allowing air-pockets to form, aren't suitable for growth by itself because it's not really soil that you're using...it's composted materials, sticks and bark.

Water gently, don't spray.

Spraying the topsoil is good for temporarily moistening the topsoil, but it will dry in no time at all. Small seedlings shouldn't dry out, because it's far more difficult for them to survive than an established plant that's already retaining lots of moisture.

Seeds must be planted at a depth of 4x their diameter (in this case, no deeper than 1cm) and kept moist , not soggy, until they sprout.

Taproots, while predisposed to growing downwards due to gravity, can also have a hard time penetrating the topsoil without any weight placed over them. When sowed into the soil, the taproot reaches deeper down into the pot, and enough pressure will form to push the seedling out of the soil.

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Read Stinky's signature, and spend lots of time reading through the extensive FAQ's, as well as previous posts archived in the forums. There's such a wealth of information here that it would take several lifetimes to be able to digest it all!