Keep the light about 8 inches from the top of the plant. The plant will by nature stretch as close as possible to the light, so you don't want to place it too far or the plant will stretch like yours did. Your stems are long ass 8-) I am doing my sorta first grow..technically my second grow, but never got to flower because I had to go away for an extended period and the plants never survived. This time is my first real grow, but I've done a ton of research, so even though it is my first full grow it doesn't feel like it. Anyway, I will document it so you can see it.

Can you put up updated photos of your crop? I just flipped to 12/12 Monday, so I got at least till mid Feb before I can see results. One is a Sativa so maybe even mid March. The other two are more or less hybrids..one is sativa dominant and the other is indica dominant.

As for cloning...i never did it, but I don't think the baggy or the cup was the issue. Did you slice it at a 45 degree angle? Did you then make a small incision splitting the stem in half? Also did you dip the stem into some sort of root stimulant for a few seconds? Did you add a drop of root stimulant to the water? YOu can get the stuff cheap at a grow shop. Couple bucks I think.