fermenting Advice for My "Summer Fermentation"

This is my first year of growing superhots and many others like chocolate habs, datils, scotch bonnets, etc.  I hope to turn most of it into mash I can use for testing new hot sauce recipes.  So far I have tried fermentation 3 times.  The first two failed (cayenne and orange hab) and the third turned out wonderfully (orange hab).  The ferment that worked for me had nothing other than whey, orange habs, salt and water.  As a result, I never saw much fermentation action but after 4 months it was a success.  I also did not use an airlock.  I just closed the mason jar lid and crossed my fingers.  I did use glass beads in a ziplock but am not sure it was necessary since there was little fermentation action.
 
So yesterday and today I processed the following:
 
Chocolate Hab Mash

 
INGREDIENTS
22 oz choc hab
2 oz carrot
2 oz sweet onion
1 oz garlic
1 oz jicama
8 oz warm water
1/2 cup whey
2 oz kosher salt (7.14% by weight)
Used 1/2 gallon jar
 
Fatali Mash

 
INGREDIENTS
24.5 oz fatali
2 oz carrot
2 oz sweet onion
2 oz yellow squash
1.5 oz garlic
8 oz warm water
1/2 cup whey
2 oz kosher salt (6.25% by weight)
Used 1/2 gallon jar
 
Bhut Jolokia Mash

 
INGREDIENTS
8 3/8 oz bhut jolokia
6 oz warm water
3 oz whey
1 oz kosher salt (11.9% by weight)
Used 1 quart jar
 
Red Savina Mash

 
INGREDIENTS

9.625 oz red savina
4 oz water
3 oz whey
0.875 oz kosher salt (9.1% by weight)
1 quart jar
 
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Mash

 
INGREDIENTS

4 oz trinidad moruga scorpion
1 oz carrot
3/4 oz garlic
1/4 oz shallot
2 oz water
2 oz whey
0.5 oz kosher salt (8.3% by weight)
1 pint jar

 
So here are my theories and if I am making any wrong assumptions, please let me know:

• The chocolate hab and fatali have vegetables included, which will help the fermentation process.  I may need to get glass beads in a ziplock for these to hold down the mash, but it seems less likely to work in the larger 1/2 gallon jar.
• The bhut and savina mash have no vegetables so I added more salt and whey as a percentage of weight and volume because it will ferment slower.
• The bhut, savina and scorpion mashes will not have an airlock because fermentation will be very slow, at least in the bhut and scorpion.  I can burp one/week for the first couple weeks and then let it ride.
• The bhut, savina and scorpion mashes are covered w/ cheesecloth for 24-36 hours to allow good bacteria to find it's way in.  After 24-36 hours I will cap w/ the jar lid.

And here are my main questions:

• Is it okay to cap the choc hab and fatali w/ a lid and airlock immediately to begin fermenting or should I leave it off a few days?
• The inverse - should I immediately cap the bhut mash and forgo the cheesecloth?
• After 2 or 3 weeks or as soon as fermentation activity begins to reside, can I remove the airlocks and cap w/ a non-venting lid?  This would allow me to use the airlocks on the next batch that may be ready.
• The scorpion mash also does not have an airlock.  I did add vegetables to speed up fermentation.  Am I rolling the dice?  Is a weekly "burp" okay?

I guess that's it for now.  I will provide updates and other mash recipes as I make them.  I hope to also ferment datils, scotch bonnets, an end of season mixture, and more of what I have already started.  So I have much fermentation in my future!  Finally, a shout out to annie57 for the link to the airlock system: http://www.cookinggodsway.com/eshop/lacto-fermentation-air-lock-kit/#sthash.fgEj7qAQ.dpbs.  Cheapest I've found and good quality.
 
Thanks in advance for your help and I hope this post was not too long.