1st Grow, lots of research leads to many more questions

[orbad]

I am about to embark on my first grow. I will have (3) 4'x4'x6'-8" chambers to work with. Items in BOLD below are ones i have questions on. I will be on a somewhat limited budget at first for this grow, so please keep that in mind. However, i do understand that greater costs come with buying twice.

One will be soil, one hydro (both flower chambers) and one Veg. room. All rooms will be constructed of 2x4 frames with black and white vinyl wall and clg. coverings. One side of each chamber will roll up to expose the grow area.

The soil chamber is not my problem, room mates, so lets focus mostly on the hydro room at this time.

I am thinking about 7 plants, should i go more SOG than that for a 4x4 space?

Should the room be larger than the table, or would it be fine to have the walls of the rooms be directly adjacent to the edge of the table?

Should get 400 or 600 watt HPS lights for my flower chamber. Keep in mind that the house was built in the 30's and has a 60amp main box. Also there will be (2) flower rooms and i would like the same wattage for both.

do digital ballasts make that much of a difference, are they worth the extra money?

I want to set up an Ebb & Flow using the traditional Lucas formula. I decided to go Ebb & Flow to bypass possible temperature issues with a DWC setup. This should not be a problem this time of the year, but why buy twice.

I was thinking somewhere around a 20gal res with the 4x4 table over a 2x4 framed platform.

I am not ready to go CO2 yet.

Should i put up mylar in addition to the white plastic? Or is it overkill and should i save the money to buy other stuff for now. I can always add it later.

Should i fill the table with media or should i use individual pots, I am thinking mesh pots with table full of media now. I have read lucas's writings of the benefits of being able to move your plants around though, if I were to go this way what type of pots would i use? It would have to be something low profile right? I do not want to have to run drip lines to each pot.

Shopping List Hydro Grow Room

Light, HPS 400-600watt
4' SQ. flood table
Net Pots, 6-8"
Clay growrox
Reservoir, +/- 20 gal rubbermade type.
H2O pump and appropriate tubing and fittings
Air Pump and Airstones
Timers, Light and Pump
GH Nutes
PH up/ down
B/W plastic sheathing, +/- 18' (one chamber)
TDS Meter
PH Meter
ML measuring device
Thermometer/ Hygrometer
Chain to hang lights
Exhaust fan, ducting, timer
Oscillating fan

Any guesses as to how deep, money wise, i will be for this first grow? I need to keep it around 600, less important items can be purchased later. If you see any of these, please point them out.

Do you have any questions, or see any holes in my plan that need to be addressed, if so please point them out. I want to do this right the first time.

I was talking to a friend of mine today and he suggested bus trays for my grow trays. It would take a little more plumbing, but it could almost be mobile that way. Not quite, but almost. The other thing is they should be much cheaper than a $120 4x4 tray from the grow shop.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-42582711725914_2073_248061

Dimensions: 4-5/8-Gallon 20w x 15d x 5h

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-42582711725914_2073_305199

7-5/8-Gallon 21.5w x 17-1/8d x 7h Gray

Thanks Lucas for all your information, this has been a great help to organize my thoughts and creating a game plan.

[vapor]

"I am thinking about 7 plants, should i go more SOG than that for a 4x4 space?"
---if you like lucas stylees i think he recommends 100 watts per planty.,.,


"Should the room be larger than the table, or would it be fine to have the walls of the rooms be directly adjacent to the edge of the table? "
---give yourself some over hang so your girls can bush out abit/././

"Should get 400 or 600 watt HPS lights for my flower chamber. Keep in mind that the house was built in the 30's and has a 60amp main box."
---600hps all the way,.,.

"do digital ballasts make that much of a difference, are they worth the extra money?"
---someday they might be but for now,/././.so the fail rate on the 600--7% on the 1000---60%,havent heard about the 400.,.,.,.

"I was thinking somewhere around a 20gal res with the 4x4 table over a 2x4 framed platform."
---there is a rule of thumb, however i do not recall, it is around here somewhere.,.,

"Should i put up mylar in addition to the white plastic? Or is it overkill and should i save the money to buy other stuff for now. I can always add it later."
---white is more reflective then mylar if i recall correctly/././

"Should i fill the table with media or should i use individual pots, I am thinking mesh pots with table full of media now"
---more root space equals more bud,it will take you a few runs to iron out your bugs and watch the plants they will tell you where they want to be.,.,.
dont skimp out on a ph pen and a tds meter it will save you headaches.,.,
aswell if you have any second hand grow equipment stores around a big city you are near you can pick up alot of your supplies for very cheap.,.,. peace