thanks for the advice. That seedling did die btw. Im no so surprised or upset. Starting again from a different approach. Im going to grow in soil like i did the first time i grew until I get the 2nd or 3rd set of leaves. Then carefully wash the soil off the roots and plant it in the hydroton. Im still having hell getting the hydroton to ph bellow 6.3-6.5. I even set it up with a fresh batch of 5.0 phed water to maybe help it meet halfway.

Anyway, after I pulled the above seedling, I took out the rockwool cube to inspect the root development. There was no more development since I had put it in the hydroton cup and the cube was soaked to the bone. Should I not have put the cotton wick in there? The bubbles were just at the bottom of the cup like in the diagram. I still want to start seedlings this way just for something different and fun, but I have to have this next seedling start right or I wont be able to harvest before I leave for 2 weeks next thanksgiving.