I think we all know that the most common pitfall for beginners is 'loving 'em to death'. The turning point in a growers career is when they learn to react to plants rather than expecting the cause and effect to be the other way around. The bust way to avoid loving them to death is not to embrace too many 'recipes' and/or technology and focus on building real horticultural skills.
If we just go out and buy some big piece of tech that we don't completely understand, we may get some success with it initially, but unless we understand it's workings completely, we'll have a hard time growing beyond it when the time comes. Only by seeing and understanding the need for each and every piece of equipment (or ingredient) we use BEFORE it's needed, can we truly work our craft with skill.
If we just go out and buy some big piece of tech that we don't completely understand, we may get some success with it initially, but unless we understand it's workings completely, we'll have a hard time growing beyond it when the time comes. Only by seeing and understanding the need for each and every piece of equipment (or ingredient) we use BEFORE it's needed, can we truly work our craft with skill.