Yeah. I mean I don't remember when gas was under 1.3€/l here. Now it's a bit over 2€/l (that's more than 7.5€/gallon). I drive a twenty year old volvo which uses about 8 liters per 100km. A new one would use like half of that.
This par map is from the spider farmer site. It would be a better fixture if the two boards would be seperate, but the 18"/45cm map seems best. Maybe even go a tiny bit higher?
Yeah, photos come out weird sometimes. You are the one who actually sees the plants. However this growth doesn't seem quite right to me. New leaves coming out thin and wrinkly makes me think of ph/root problems. If they look fine IRL you can forget about my comment.
I just grow for myself in a tent, but what I don't get is why not run shelfs if you have the height and want to produce a lot. A big investment for sure, but otherwise. Atleast over here floor area is expensive.
How many of the seeds grow to be full grown plants... Yeah, nature really isn't something to replicate.
However, planting seeds is easy indeed. Poke a hole in medium. Drop a seed in & cover lightly. Done.