How Hard Is Coco For A Newbie?

Iv'e noticed a couple threads on Coco growing. Ed's being one of them but i found it a bit overwhelming. I had a really bad first time experience this past summer and i'm eager to correct my mistakes and start getting the yields i need. I had a 600 watt HID with crappy soil, the HID ended up buzzing after the first month and the cable company was flipping shit because MASSIVE signal interference was disrupting my entire neighborhood. I was fighting the heat and a high power bill! I harvested next to nothing for my troubles and was forced to finish a month ahead of schedule.

This time i'm going for LEDs and Coco. I have no experience with hydroponics or soiless grows. Iv'e only ever tossed seeds in the dirt, turned on a light and crossed my fingers. Obviously that hasn't worked out so i'm spending about half a grand. My main concerns are

A. How hard is it to mix nutes and properly PH water from tap as someone who NEVER touched a PPM meter or PH tester, and not even a bottle of nutes before?
B. Does Coco require aeration such as perlite? My last soil retained WAY too much water and stressed my girls out constantly. I hear it has 30% oxygen at the root zone, is this enough?
C. With Canna based products will i run into overfeeding underfeeding or salt problems often and how hard is it to correct mistakes in a coco coir environment?

I did A LOT of shopping around and i decided to get an Apollo 4x4x6 tent with a PlatinumLED P300. Canna brand coco coir with Canna A+B 1 liter bottles. (Canna seems very easy and straightforward for newbies) I plan to add in something for flowering as maybe a foliar spray but idk. I plan to have 2-3 plants finishing in 5-7 gallon smart pots.

The cheaper LEDs out there are attractive for my budget and i can buy 3 of them to the 1 PlatinumLED but i DO NOT trust the quality of those things. My last grow i went cheap with a $150 Ipower HID 600 watt system and it failed me BIG TIME. Not only that but the company refused to replace it after only 4 months. I figure i can start this with a strong foundation with the PlatinumLED and then build around it with cheaper LEDs if i decide i need more power.

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

 

See quite a few complaints about their lights dying 6-12 months into use.

 

I should have got a LED from the start.

 

Yeah no doubt, but so did my Ipower and basically what it meant for me was, i can send the light back for replacement or repairs on MY OWN dime. Which is most likely what they mean as well. I'm just REALLY careful these days after being burned by Ipower.

Those actually look quite nice. But the company is GalaxyHydro and i'm not certain about their quality. I don't want to drop $350+ on a LED light but i'm really hesitant to touch anything that isn't well known and received.

 

Those Chinese lights have very mixed reviews. I honestly can't wait for the day when we get reputable and low cost LEDs. The cool thing about LEDs is the price for the materials is always going down over time, just like computers you will see the price dive as more and more advanced methods are adopted.

LEDs are going to lead to some amazing computerized tech for growers in the very near future! THAT is where the high prices will shift. These plug and play LEDs will be very cheap in 5-10 years most likely. But for now i'm just not comfortable with a knockoff light, most likely going with the Platinum P300 as a strong foundation that i can build upon with peace of mind should a diode or 10 go out.

 

The sun is a free and efficient retailer of light operating for just about a few billion years with great reviews across the board!