I have heard about collodial silver before, and I will be looking into that at some point, but I agree on the genetics side that it could be a wildcard (such as with my current Lemon Kush plant.)
About the transplant, I didn't think I was going to have much issues with those peat pots, but I don't think I will be attempting that with autos again!
And yes, I did fertilize/nute the autos. I was worried about a possible deficiency, so I added some used coffee grounds and some banana water. I think the coffee grounds were ok for the nitrogen, but I think the banana water stressed them out and caused the burns.
RE: Failing my Autoflowers..