As far as nute strength goes I have been following label recommendation. Not experienced enough to say yes or no too much or not on the nutes but I can say that I am very happy with how heavy/thick plants are with buds with 2 weeks to go. Wish I could post some pics. I have a mix of plants (7 sativa and 5 indica/sativa) and will never do that again.

As far as your question about what guys do and roots sitting in the 1 inch of water at the bottom of the ebb/flow buckets. I do/did nothing on this grow and I have never read anything that says its an issue.

Tiny or other guys might give opinions about the roots sitting in 1 inch of water all the time.