If you want to sink your pots in a bed of HT, go for the net. Otherwise, my personal choice would be solid pots. The hydro shop guy suggested running beneficials like Serenade and SubCulture to help ensure that root rot never becomes a problem.

Yup, you sure can, which is why you should pick carefully and take into account strain vigor, richness of the atmosphere, and veg time. In an 8 week period, you can definitely get away with finishing a bit on the root bound side. I would say a quart for no veg time, a gallon for a week if that week is spent in the EZclone, 2 gallons for a good solid week in veg in the pots after they are out of the cloner. Be SO careful not to let the roots get too long, or risk damaging them in transplant
No matter what you do, take notes so you will be able to correct for plant vigor on the next crop.