[GpsFrontier]

Now it is encompassing most of the entire system, covering up leaves from some of the other plants.

Plants are quite adaptive and try to continue to grow in the conditions given. Unfortunately though, if the plants are taking over and covering up others so they cant get enough light, there's only one answer, they are to close together. From the pictures, some of them look like they are no more than 2 or 3 inches apart. I don't know how big the variety/s you are growing get, but I would suggest placing them 8 to 12 inches apart. That gives them 4 to 6 inches to grow on either side. Also I can't tell from the picture, but the lighting might be a little one sided. You may want to check to make sure the plants are all getting as much even lighting as possible.

Another issue I ran into was with some seeds not germinating. I decided at that point to first germinate (not in book) then transplant to system.

Yes, you definitely want to get the seeds going first, before placing them in the system. You will ensure the plant (seed) will grow, and you will use less resources in the process. In the case of turn around harvesting, you will have plants (seeds) ready right away to replace the ones you harvested. Shortening the time needed in the system, before the next harvest. To germinate the seeds I just use a small Tupperware container (with lid), place a wet towel on the bottom. Place the seeds on the wet towel, and place the Tupperware container in a warm place untel they sprout. Then I place the sprouted seeds in 1 inch rockwool cubes, moisten the cubes, place them in another Tupperware container and again in a warm place.

I don't have a cloner, but you can place the 1 inch cubes in a cloner like one of these: Hydroponic Plant Cloners - Hydroponics Equipment don't be scared by the price, the prices are ridiculous and the cloners are easy to make yourself. It's nothing more than a light proof box (with lid), pump, tubing with misters, timer and a see through top to hold humidity and let light in. If you want to get fancy, you can add a small humidifier/fogger (for the top of the plants). You could even replace the pump, tubing, misters and timer with a fogger in the root zone (base). There is a thread about foggers in this forum here: http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/for...2-foggers.html You would just cut holes in the lid just big enough to fit the 1 inch rockwool cubes into, or you can even use round foam plugs (picture attached), just cut holes accordingly.

You can simply place your cloner near the main system to get light, or you can build a small cfl (compact florescent light) lighting system for it. Using simply a metal reflective shroud, cheaply made from household metal ducting. Then place a couple of light bulb sockets in it, wired in series and attach a plug. Insert the CFL bulbs (picture of cfl attached), and hang the lights above your cloner.

I do not remember the exact genus. I want to say Letuca Sativa or Garden Salad. The bag says 40-50 days for harvest. I'm not exactly sure what harvest time should look like either. Imagine it's something similar to what is shown on the bag.

Probably. Although, what I would do is do a search on the internet for the exact variety of lettuce plants you have (from the name on the package), looking for pictures of the full grown plant, or of the harvested plant (like what you get in the grocery store). I might even use the VIDEO option in the search engines to look for the plant, or even using youtube. A video can show you much more than a still picture can.