If you are new to germinating look at my thread Gardening by the Moon. Dec 4th good time to germinate seeds. It's in advanced techniques. MH= metal halide light, used for vegatative phase, HPS= high pressure sodium light, used for blooming. Usually need at least 400 watt light bulb for 4x4 ft grow area. I like a ballast you can switch back and forth so you don't have to have a separate system for each lighting phase. Don't know much about grow boxes and tents. Seems like a waste of money if you have a closet or separate room. Makes it easier to grow if u have lots of room. You'll need a separate area to keep mother plants in if that's what u want to do. They have to be left in veg stage forever or they will bloom and die. Don't spend a lot of money on fancy stuff until you kill a few plants. If u got lotsa money, go wild. Most important things are light, light and light. Spend money on good lighting and you will always be able to use it in future grows. 400 watt lights last longer than 1000 watt systems and do not get as hot. The bulbs are like $30 each for 400 watts. Everybody will tell you different things, hydro people like hydro, soil people like soil. Soil more forgiving to amateur mistakes in my opinion. Trickdaddy left you a post in his thread. My advice is to get a grow bible book and read that first. That will answer 98% of questions. You gotta do some of the work yourself, read read read!