Go with the flora series. They're easy. Learn what you're doing and make sure you like it. (only buy small quantities) then if you want to expand you can look into mixing up your own nutrients. Probably only grow a single kind of plant first. I recommend tomatoes or herbs. That way you're not trying to make everyone happy or trying to troubleshoot across three different kinds of plants. Of course, lets hope no trouble shooting is required.

Well grizzman. I've got to build one of them. I think I have everything except the pump and net pots. I tried using the html for posting a picture and it failed to work. I used the http://, but I didn't put www. I am thinking of using a 12 volt bildge pump and hooking up a small battery charger to the timer. Do you think that there would be any difference in your results if your pump was to run 24/7? It occured to me that if the roots are already down into the nutrients, running the pump 24/7 would just help keep more oxygen in the water. Also, I read someones post some time ago where they used to trim the roots when they got long enough to dip into the nutrients. I don't know if the plants did any beter as a result. chuck

I used to recommend the GH 3 part flora series, too. But, I started using their dry Maxigro and Floramato this year. The price is way lower per gallon, you can buy a 1.5lb container for less than $15, and you don't have to measure with anything but a teaspoon. It also buffers 10 times better. I haven't added any ph up or down once to the tomato rez this year. Last year it was every other day sometimes. Of course, the nutrients aren't the only change I made. I also now have a single, much larger rez as opposed to individual 5 gallon buckets for tomatoes. Much better for maintaining ph and temps. FYI and maybe a non issue in this thread: I switched to Maxibloom for the peppers since the nitrogen seemed so high on Floramato. It's also a dry nutrient. It is much better. So, my 3 commercial favorites have just been narrowed down to GH's Maxigro (all vegetative growth), Maxibloom (peppers and eggplant flowering and fruiting), and Floramato (tomatoes fruiting). PH Meters: Get the cheap liquid drops. I found some disturbing issues with my Milwaukee pH meter. You don't have to worry about whether or not the drops are calibrated or if your battery is dying or your probe glass is crapping out or you're too close to fluorescent lighting. You don't have to buy storage, cleaning, and calibration solutions ($7 to $10 each). You don't have to worry about what happens if you drop it. I know I sound like a General Hydroponics employee, but I'm not associated at all aside from satisfied customer. Anyway, they make drops that are about $7. They last a really long time. At least one season. More if you have only a couple reservoirs to tend to. Here is a link that might be useful: PH Drops at bottom of the page at this link

Nate I'm growing tom's and a few veg under LED's. What's the wattage on those lights? Toms will spring up fast and grow like weeds, you'll want to be diligent about pruning them right to keep them in control and under your light.