Hi @dw1305Personally I'm always going to want the plants grown in before I add any fish, and then I'm going to add the fish fairly slowly. It might not be strictly, but it has a very low chance of failure (at least in terms of water quality issues).
I have 'cycled' tanks many times using the ammonium chloride and Tetra SafeStart approach. Keeping a close watch on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate with good quality test kits is key to success. I have never had any casualties from adopting this approach. But, I used to have no end of problems with trying to raise healthy plants - even Frogbit. If I'd waited until I felt confident in growing healthy aquatic plants, I'd only just be starting to keep fish.
I used to be a Moderator on A N Other forum. They all adopted the ammonia and bottled bacteria approach. You should have seen some of the so-called plants in their tanks. Or, maybe not!
JPC