400W HPS/MH Lowlife Automatic AK47 Questions

This is my first real post of any consequence, just been doing a great deal of reading leading up to my first grow. I seem to be getting a little bit of conflicting info from the one and only grow shop in my area and I'm hoping to clear it up. Any help would be appreciated.

To start, here's my gameplan and status:

4' X 4' X 6' sealed Melamine grow cabinet (I'm an advanced amateur woodworker)
Cabinet will be anchored to cinderblock wall a foot off the ground in my secluded basement - <80% complete>

400W HPS/MH switchable w/ Easycool 6 relector/magnetic ballast/Sunrise Hi-Lo hangers, upgraded HPS (55,000 Lumens, Enhanced blue) and MH (38,000 Lumens) from HTGSUPPLY.com - <Waiting to order pending responses>

500 cfm 8" inline duct fan with two reducers down to 4" GrowBright Pure Flow 4 Jr. Carbon Filter, this was recommended by the folks at HTG (basically will be the equivalent of a 250 cfm can fan, just much quieter and cheaper) -ORDERED

250 cfm inline duct fan for reflector - ORDERED

10 Lowlife Automatic AK47 Autoflowering seeds from Attitude - ORDERED

GrowBright Indoor / Outdoor Thermometer with Hygrometer - ORDERED

Testers/Heater/Thermostat - Still Researching, any recco's appreciated

Have purchased quite a bit more, but some of the questions relate to those items.

Well here goes. I'll start with the stupid questions.

I was planning on using FF Ocean Forest mixed 50/50 with Perlite and was talked into replacing the Perlite with Light Warrior Seed Starter Agroponic grow medium, was told it accomplishes the same task as Perlite and adds beneficial ingredients and is PH balanced like the Ocean Forest...Is this OK or should I go get Perlite anyways?

Also was not planning on using any nutes for the very short Veg stage of the autos as I have seen done on several Grow Journals of Autos in FF OF soil, then I was going to stick with FF Tiger Bloom and such for the flowering stage. Heres what I left the grow shop with (LOL):

Botanicare - Cal-Mag Plus 2-0-0 / Pure Blend PRO bloom 1-4-5 / Clearex / Sweet 0-0-0 / Free sample bottle of Liquid Karma .1-.1-.5 / Free sample bottle of Pure Blend PRO grow 3-2-4

Anything else I should get before I start or does that pretty much cover it?

Lastly, the owner of the shop was surprisingly open about what kind of plants I was growing and had some experience with the autos. What surprised me the most was when he told me that the auto strains dont like to be vegged under MH and that I should do so under an enhanced 125W CFL and then switch to the HPS. That seems to go against most of what I thought I had read on most grow journals for autos. I'm spending extra to get the switchable HPS/MH set up...if he's correct I could save the money for a better HPS setup or a separate CFL for vegging. If this is in a previous thread, a direct to said thread would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your time.

Alrighty then.....I've grown quite a few autos (LR AF AK47's) and I can tell you that flouros the first week or two is a good idea that will get you through a touchy phase. I have had the best results doing it that way and then once they are going strong, switch to my 400w HPS.

Boneman said:

Alrighty then.....I've grown quite a few autos (LR AF AK47's) and I can tell you that flouros the first week or two is a good idea that will get you through a touchy phase. I have had the best results doing it that way and then once they are going strong, switch to my 400w HPS.

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I appreciate the input Boneman, Ive read your journal. I'm wide open for suggestions on wattage and spectrum, my cabinet should be able to accommodate just about anything. Im planning on growing no more than 4 plants at a time and temp should not be a problem in my basement.

im thinking of purchasing the same 400 watt mh/hps kit from htg...you from Pa. or florida? if your from PA. then its cool to see a fellow PA grower. Im wondering about the MH for veg also.... my last grow was with all cfls start to finish but now i want the real toys, lol....your setup sounds great bro....cant really give any advice because im new to thios equipment also.....Ill be following your grow...best of luck man...

Im in NC. I just ended up looking at HTG after coming across links to them in many threads. However, I have family in Quakerstown, friends in Chambersburg and my first live in GF was from Scranton...so plenty of ties to PA.

MuyLocoNC said:

Im in NC. I just ended up looking at HTG after coming across links to them in many threads. However, I have family in Quakerstown, friends in Chambersburg and my first live in GF was from Scranton...so plenty of ties to PA.

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oh i see, the way it sounded you were from PA. yeah, plenty of PA. ties....lol... the htg store is close to chambersburg....i dont know man, im really debating here....the 400 hps is 119 which fits more into my budget but the mh/hps is 169 which is a damn good deal....im wondering how much of a difference there would be just vegging with cfls....hmmmm...im driving myself nuts here.....lol...

Well, I'm as far from an expert as one can get, but I think the issue I'm having is due to the fact I'm going to be growing autos. All of the journals I've read on normal strains under 400W highly recommend vegging under MH first then switching to HPS. But please verify that info.

captain792000 said:

oh i see, the way it sounded you were from PA. yeah, plenty of PA. ties....lol... the htg store is close to chambersburg....i dont know man, im really debating here....the 400 hps is 119 which fits more into my budget but the mh/hps is 169 which is a damn good deal....im wondering how much of a difference there would be just vegging with cfls....hmmmm...im driving myself nuts here.....lol...

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Get the 400w MH/HPS system. The difference is unstinkingbelievable!! Eat top ramen and tuna for a week and save the 50 bucks and get the MH/HPS.

Boneman

Boneman said:

Get the 400w MH/HPS system. The difference is unstinkingbelievable!! Eat top ramen and tuna for a week and save the 50 bucks and get the MH/HPS.

Boneman

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So with the MH being GREAT for vegging normal strains, what CFL would you recco for veggin 4-6 autos? Also any thoughts on the Soil/Nutes I ended up with?

after long consideration im just gonna spend the extra 50 bucks and go with the mh/hps. ill use cfls also with mh though for veg....you can buy 65 watt cfls from wal mart for 19 bucks a peice....you also want cool white, stay away from the soft whiite, their useless....good luck ....