I probably won't be a great help, but...if you go to one of the threads that I started a couple of months ago, you might get a few answers to your questions. I wasn't willing to spend the time, money, or chance on High end seeds to start, so I used dirt seed. I used the paper towel method, scattered approx. 16-18 seeds in it and about 60% sprouted. They were then moved to water bottles that had been cut down to about 4 " tall w/ holes for drainage drilled in the bottom, and put under (1) one Comp Flour (24W) to see what would happen. At this point I was just playing around with it to see what would happen. The things started growing so fast that after about 2-3 weeks I had to pick about 8 of them (limited by pots available) to go farther. 4-5 Weeks they had been trimmed a couple of times and were getting to big for the area. Soooooo, I went into 12/12 (flower) and picked the first 3 females, luckily, I ended up with 5 of 8 as females, you can get the rest from the thread(s), I have been depending on several others for my info, as I know nothing about this stuff, and it has taken a good deal of time to find a lot of the information...GOOD LUCK !!
The Link below should take you to that thread...if not, go to member directory "T"s find Texastweeked "click" find all threads started by: "click" and then click bubbler question....the first one.

"My First Time"
Texastweeked Reviewed by Texastweeked on . questions: new grower so i decided i wanted to start growing and i need a couple of questions answered: 1) i now since im a new grower i prolly won't get great results. so i am wondering what is the best seed to start out with that will be fairly high yeilding and wont be to finicky about things. 2) i plan on using hydro as a means of growing. would this be better than soil? i plan on growing indoors. so i could care less if it is cheaper or more expensive. i at least want the better choice of the two. Rating: 5