What are you using for soil? How often are you watering?

Its possible it has nothing to do with the lights.

It's good soil, right now im using Batch64 and Promix. I use a weight scale to check the amount of water that has evaporated or consumed by the plants. I have some in 5 gallon buckets that only require water every 3 weeks to a month.

What wattage are the lights?

How high above the plant tops are the lights?

How long are they on each day?

Do you have good air circulation around the plants (A fan on them? Oscillating fan?)?

What is the temperature under the lights (at the level of the plant tops)?

What is the relative humidity under the lights?

Have you had any fungus gnat infestations? The larvae can eat the fine root hairs that are responsible for water uptake, causing problems similar to over- or under-watering.

3 weeks to a month seems incredibly long to go between waterings. Do your buckets/pots have drainage holes?

Have you had success under other types of lights, such as fluorescent lights?

Unless your answers to the questions above show some glaring mistake, I'm with Dave on suggesting that this may have to do with your soil mix rather than the lights. Trying a much faster draining soil (the container gardening forum recommends a good one) is probably not going to hurt anything at this point.

And, so you don't have to go anywhere, the 5:1:1 mix would be a good choice.

5 parts pine bark fines

1 part peat

1 part perlite along with some dolomite lime.

1000 watt

2 foot above the plants

13 hours on 11 off

fan air circulation - yes

temp at lamp 80f .. room temp 75

humidity around %30

no fungus or insect problems

the pots have drain holes, the soil medium is designed to retain a lot of water

yes ive tried 600 watt led panel, had same result

30% relative humidity at 80° is going to put a lot of stress on your plants, and could potentially be contributing to the slow growth you're seeing. At that temperature, a higher relative humidity will create a more favorable growing environment.

However, a potting mix that is "designed to retain a lot of water" seems the more likely culprit for what you've been dealing with. Roots need air, and a very water-retentive mix in a container can potentially become saturated enough to drown them. The plants will then have to put energy into new root growth instead of new growth above ground, and will appear to grow slowly.

Try the potting mix that Dave suggested. There is a lot of information in the Container Gardening forum about it. And if you can safely add a humidifier to your growing area, that won't hurt either.

Completely agree with the above comment. I don't think it has anything to do with the lights.

Also just a question, isn't a 1000W HID light 2 feet away too close or not?

most of the plants are only 4 or 5 inches tall(which too have stopped growing and turned yellow). the canopy of that container is about 6 feet below the lamp.

i'm convinced its witches and santa clause using bleach powder or concentrated salt water 2 to 4 times a year.

1000W HID at 2ft above the plant is frying the plants. Please look up the recommended distance and I think it needs to be 4 ft at least. How many seedlings do have that you need a 1000W HID? Better would be to use flourescents (TFHO) and have them close to plants - say 3-6 inches.

24 inches is within the recommended range for a 1000w light. However, the guidelines I am using are meant for mature plants that like full sun. A lot of veggies should be happier with less light.

But the fact that this is also happening to young plants that are 6 (!!) feet under the light really points to this issue not being caused by your lights. I still suggest you try a different potting mix and see if that helps.

I missed the 6 ft part. That is way too far. 2ft will be fine for mature plants perhaps even closer will be OK with less coverage. Seedlings will do better with less intense light and longer duration. Anyway, I agree it is not entirely a light issue.

A 5 gallon bucket with peat based mix would definitely be a problem. However, a small say 4inch pot for starting seeds should not be a problem for vegetable seedlings. I used to start veges like that in a commercial seed starting mix and it used to be fine. Long term in that mix and in larger pots would not be suitable.