Rapid Rooters are alot better than RW. The PH doesnt seem to drift around as much and you can get alot of salt buildup from RW.

Actually plain PH'd water until the first set of true leaves comes out and then you could start at 1/4 str nutes and maybe a touch of ST (it's what I do)

PPM meter is a good thing to have but not as critical as a PH meter. You can always copy a formula that is already being used, Lucas or Latewood's, or you can even just follow directions off the bottle but PH is touchy. Can start out looking like something else, Mg def, and by the time you find out your PH is 7.5 it's time to start over.

Unless dealing with known to be females you take a risk of problems if you get a hermie that needs to be removed. untangling roots to remove 1 plant without damaging another just doesnt make my top 10 things to do list.

First 2 weeks ...........
Dont try to rush things. keep all your ducks in a row and you will be rewarded in the end. Try to do things at the speed of light and your gonna have problems. Keep PH in the range, dont rush nutes onto babies and just watch and learn. The plants will show you if something is wrong, the key is to figure it out. If you do run into problems dont change mutiple things at once, if you do you might not ever know what you did to fix your problem and could create more.
Along with DWC reads you might take a peak at jus some basic growing stuff as you would find most answers to the questions that were asked. :jointsmile: