You have been blessed with some great advice, stick with it and you will see results :thumbsup:

I'd also try to transplant them into individual pots ASAP... I didn't catch if you had transplanted them at all yet or just planted them straight into the 2gal... cuz if you put the plant into a big pot, the roots will keep growing, and the plant will focus most of it's energy on the roots. Explained better here http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...ency-baby.html

Many people have made the same mistakes that you have... if you browse around the "first grow" logs, you will see it over and over again.

Color test kits are no good for measuring soil run-off; they can only be used on clear liquids. You can get digital ones starting at $8 at home depot someone said, descent ones for $20 and up...

As for the Brita filter, I came across this...
Quote Originally Posted by Weedhound
Whatever is in those filters such as Britta et al removes the minerals etc with salts.....these filters take out the GOOD minerals your plants need (like calcium etc) .....leave the bad stuff in and makes the sodium level of your water too high.

Go with your tap or consider RO or distilled.
You might need CalMag if you are using the Brita, I'm not positive, so best to do some searching about that. Or, once you find out your actual tap water ph and run-off ph, just use the tap water and adjust accordingly with ph up/down... http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...hy-how-do.html

As for the ventilation, you can get the full answer plus more here--> http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...-progress.html Basically, you want to pull the hot air out the top with the fan(s) and have a passive (no fan) intake on the bottom, preferably directly opposite from your exhaust. You will have to make these light-leak proof, just another thing to keep in mind.

Do you have any fan blowing around the grow area? An oscillating fan will help to move around fresh air, and strengthen the stems, which will reduce that stretching also.

Oh yeah, some perlite mixed in with the soil would help things a lot!

Good luck :jointsmile: