Also a big newbie here. I had been using MG with mixed results. One plant was awesome but the other two were just kinda meh and it's too soon to tell on the second batch. They got hit at the worst time with some heat issues so they're taking an extra week to bounce back.
I just bought some Fox Farm Ocean Forest and will be planting the next batch in that when I move my current few to the flowering stage. I also bought some Botanicare grow and bloom fertilizers instead of the Fox Farm stuff because the Hydro shop guy had a real hard on for that brand. I figure he knows more than me for sure so I'll give him a chance and if he lied to me just to sell me some crap it will be a valuable $30 lesson.
Edit -
We kept talking about growing "herbs" and he was saying he uses it at home to grow his own "herb." It was pretty clear we knew exactly what each other were talking about but it was funny as hell thinking about the conversation in retrospect.
We'd each emphasize the word herb when ever we said it.
Me, "I plan on growing some cooking HERBS what soil and fertilizer would you suggest?"
Him, "Oh, well I grow my own HERB at home and this is what I use..."
Funny as shit... plus I'm imbibing now so...