Ya i agree with what u think maybe the cause. Def see that sativa stretch trait. For 12-12 they are dam tall, weird structure, but the buds are nicely glitter coated and sounds like it will be very flavorful..
So good job.
What diy method of hydro did u go with ? I did a similiar thing my ladt grow and surprisingly was sum of my best indoor ive done, without any deficiencies or problems. And it was first attempt at anything other than organic soil grown plants.
I allways herd u cant mix hydro & soil growing methods, nutes, organic nutes will cause stinky root problems , the whole 9 yards.
So i made 2 root zones per plant. A organic compost & perlite smart pot that sits on top of a dwc 5 gallon bucket.
And then same idea but but little different. I had a 20 gallon black rubbermaid tote that inside i had 7 gal smart pot elevated in tote bout 3/4 of way up from top of tote. Cut perfect size hole in tote lid so only bsmart pot peaks threw top of tote and no light get to roots in same dwc with lots of bubbles.
I did only 1 res cleaning at beginning flower and the once b4 ice cold flush in final week with dark period b4 chop. Worked great.
Im interested on what u did sorry for long message.