Why aren't my marijuana seedlings thriving?

Question

Now that it's legal to grow, I decided to try growing my own. I bought a 1000 W LED light and have set up my seedlings in a 2 ft high area and the light is approximately 9 inches from top of plants. If they ever get going, I'll move everything to a taller area.

Notice the two plants that are falling over. What causes this? They were sprouted using the wet paper towel method and have now been in the soil about 10 days. Notice how they are drooping over and twisty.

The two plants that are fairly straight and strong were planted directly in the soil about 5 days ago. They look good now but I'm worried the same will happen to them.

The two pots with nothing in them are seeds using the paper towel method. I'm guessing I damaged them in planting or something else. Given I'm 2/2 with soil sprouting and 2/4 with paper towel sprouting, I'll stick to soil sprouting!

To water, I'm using a spray bottle and misting them. I'm doing this every day, but if anything, the soil seems dry. But I'm really not sure if I'm over/under watering and this could well be the problem. The soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest which the nursery recommended. I've added nothing else. This is in a garage so it's a little toasty (<80F) especially in daytime (southern california) and gets somewhat humid. There's no insulation in garage.

Can anyone tell by the pictures what is going on, especially with the two droopy, twisty ones? Please let me know if I can provide any extra info.

The end goal of this plant is suppose to be reduced anxiety and depression. Right now, it's having the opposite effect :)

Additional info: The light source is BLOOM PLUS LED Grow Light BP 1000W 2x2ft Coverage Sunlike Full Spectrum Grow Light for Indoor Plants with 336packs Samsung Diodes(Includes IR) which upon reading the fine print on Amazon is 90 W, not 1000W. Not sure why they have 1000W in title. I am a newbie so I don't know how far away from plants it should be. In a desperate attempt to save my babies, I've been putting them outside during the day for natural sunlight and breeze. No difference really. I've done this for the past two days. The limpy ones look even worse, the two good ones look about the same!

Answer 1

It's been my experience that cannabis is, essentially, an annual weed. Now, My own experience with it is limited by its illegality in my state, but we do have the cannibis varieties for producing hemp growing that grow wild here (it was a cash crop during WWII). In fact, before they legalized cannabis-for-hemp/CBD here, sheriffs would torch entire fields of the stuff. I'm also aware of non-hemp varieties growing wild in people's yard - the seeds can apparently survive -25F temperatures.

Farmers sow cannibis like any other crop - drill it, cover it (a little) and forget about it - it's incredibly forgiving though, and drought tolerant. So, let's look at your experience as just another agricultural crop. Here's what I'd do differently: I'd plant the seeds directly into the ground outside and grow the cannabis as an outdoor crop BUT, the variety you're using may have been bred for indoor cultivation. If that's the case, then I would:

1. Not over-think sowing the seed - just put it on top of the soil and cover to its depth, then water. Don't use the "paper towel method", which I last used in grade school to sprout beans. It just causes transplant shock when you put the seedling in a pot or outside, which I think is one reason your seedlings flopped.
2. Replace the box you have your pots in with a plastic tray so that you can adequately water your seedlings.
3. Replace the peat pots with any plastic pot, such as empty yogurt containers (with holes drilled/punched into their bottoms) or already-used pots, three-packs or four-packs. The pots you're using require a large amount of water because the peat wicks the water away from your soilless mix.
4. Make sure that the grow light isn't so close to the plants that it over-heats them, because LEDs can emit a great deal of heat. BUT - the light has to be close enough to prevent the seedling from becoming etiolated/leggy.

If the variety you're growing is for outdoor cultivation and if you still want to keep them in containers:

1. After the plants have their first set of leaves, or after you've sown them in the plastic pots, place the pots outside, and remember to water them at least once daily (this is where the plastic tray comes in handy - only water them from the bottom).
2. Keep them in indirect light until they get their second set of leaves, then move them into part sun until they're much older and into bigger pots.
3. As with any container plant, watering and fertilizer are crucial. AFAIK, cannabis is not a heavy feeder, so unless I'm wrong (please tell me in the comments, as I like to know these things and, who knows? Maybe pigs will fly and they'll legalize it here), use a timed-release fertilizer like Osmocote to keep the plants fed for the next three months.