Hi! Fe Methods 2 or 3 (referring to my book, Platinotype) will give you cooler tones than Fe1. Higher hydrations (anything above 70%) will begin to slightly reduce Dmax compared to prints hydrated in the 50–70% range — much of this is discussed and illustrated in the book. You may want to reduce hydration slightly, say to 65% at 70°F.
The 90-minute post-coat hydration is good, but you may not need to wait 5 minutes between coating and hydrating — you can go straight from the completed coating to hydrating the print. The only reason to pause is when working with a heavily sized paper, where the sensitizer needs time to absorb to the point where just a light sheen remains on the surface. Waiting between coating and hydrating can sometimes introduce inconsistencies if the atmosphere in the coating area is fluctuating (though it sounds like you have everything well under control).
Regarding the blotching — increase your pre-coat hydration from 2 hours to between 12–24 hours.
Thanks!
Pradip