I think newbies are actually better-off doing a straight organic grow unless they are doing hydro. Using chemicals makes the process much more difficult, since your EC, ph etc all need to be watched fairly closely.
Worm compost is easy to get hold of, easy to use, and will not kill your plants if you use too much. It may mean you get slightly smaller yields than if you pump the plant full of chemicals, but not by much if you're doing it right.
How thick are the main stems? They look pretty slim, which is not a great sign yield-wise. Your plant is unlikely to produce more weight than the main stem can hold...