when males pollinate

Hi all, I have 4 white widow and 8 big bud they are 3 1/2 weeks old the bb average about ten inches and the ww are about six, this is my first grow and everything is going great. I have limited height so i have a little over three feet. I want to take clones for my next batch, how long do i have before the males start to pollinate, will they only start to show sex after 12/12, the three feet i said earlier is having the lights a foot of including my 18 hydro reservoir, so that is plant size. i think i should start to flower around 14 inches so i don't overgrow my box when in flowering any suggestions would be helpful thanks mike

Sounds like it's going well man. Yea they won't show sex until you switch to 12/12, and they won't pollinate until two weeks after that. 14 inches sounds perfect to me; the only bad thing is that the WW is gonna be much smaller than the Big Bud at that point (since WW will only be like 10 inches when the BB hits 14). Definitely top or FIM those babies, since you have to keep them so short (it will make them bushier). Good luck!

It best to wait until preflowers develop that's nature's way of telling you that the plant is sexually mature and ready to be flowered. IF you flower too early the plant will still have to mature and develop preflowers but doing so with less energy (light). It wont hurt the plant but it wont result in a faster harvest. The preflowers usually develop when the plant is 6-8 weeks old. Also supposed to wait until preflowers before you clone too. Again wont harm the plant but it will take longer to fully develop.

Puff said:

It best to wait until preflowers develop that's nature's way of telling you that the plant is sexually mature and ready to be flowered. IF you flower too early the plant will still have to mature and develop preflowers but doing so with less energy (light). It wont hurt the plant but it wont result in a faster harvest. The preflowers usually develop when the plant is 6-8 weeks old. Also supposed to wait until preflowers before you clone too. Again wont harm the plant but it will take longer to fully develop.

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Normally, you're absolutely right....but a height issue (keeping it under 3 feet) trumps that idea. I mean if these things get too big it's gonna be a reaaal pain in the ass. That's why he should definitely top or FIM to give them more time to mature and grow without getting taller.

thanks alot guys, i already fim the big bud once and two shoots came out of most of them however four came out of one, can i take cuttings before 12/12, but i won't know whether they are m or f. obviously i want the females, how do you know what is a good plant genetically so i can take cuttings off of that plant, do the ww traditionally grow slower than bb, i am thinking about turning the ww to where the bb is now it seems to get more light, can i fim again at what stage i am at nowthanks mike

plants will grow 2-3 their veg size due to flowering, keep that in mind.