Hello,

Welcome to the best hobby around. At first you will find a thosand things that go wrong, once they are all out of the way you will be rewarded with a thousand things that go right!

Lighting
an incandecent light will not work for growing herb for a number of reasons. A couple are; the fact that it burns way too hot, it does not emit enough light, most of the light that is emited from incandecents is not it the right light spectrums to support plant growth.

What you want is to find some fluorescent lights, they are quite cheap at Wal-mart. Fluros will give off enough light to support early to mid vegetative growth. Ultimately you would want to get a MH (metal halide) for the veg stage, and a HPS (High Presure Sodium) for flowering.

MH and HPS come in several different "wattages". A 400 watt light is probably the most common for indoor growing. The higher the watt the more lumens that are produced, the more lumens = more growth.

I use fluoros for early veg and for clones. I then switch to the HPS for the rest of Veg (even though MH is recommended you can use HPS), I also use the same HPS with the addition of a few well placed cfl's (compact fluorescents) for flowering.

Plant Food

You should not fertilize a plant at all for at least the first two weeks of its life. Some of the people who taught me most of what I know don't even feed for the first one and a half months.

I split the middle and start up a 1/4 strength ratio feeding cycle at one month old.

The plants do not get full strength for another three feedings. I work up the dosage 25% at a time. I feed with nutrients every third watering (if a plant really likes the nutes I will feed it every two waterings). You probably do not need to take so long, but I do not like to take the chance of burnng the plants, plus I add in some nutes into the soil (in the form of worm castings, blood meal, and bone meal).

Also, make sure that your soil mixture is fast draining. Add in plenty (up to 50%, or more if you chose to do so) of perlite, and add in vermiculite also, it helps with water retention. It may be that you soil does not drain well enough and your little seedlings are getting water bogged.

A few suggestions

If posible get your self some fluoros or even a nice HID (High Intensity Discharge, for example; HPS, MH) light. If you do get into HID lighting you will also have to start getting into ventilation. Heat buildup is bad news for your plants. You want to keep your grow space at around 78-84*F while the light are on. When they are off the temp should be in the seventies.

Another reason that plants fall over some times is because the stem is weak from no natural stress (such as the wind), you could try putting a small fan in with your plants. Create a gentle breeze, your plants will grow stronger and healthier because of it.

If you need me to clarify anything, or have any other questions please just let me know.

I hope this helps, happy growing.

Peace