It's been almost a week since the four have been topped, but it's been productive. A few days ago, V1(lower left hand corner in pics) and V4(upper right hand corner in pics) started to show the slightest of yellowing on the lower fan leaves, telling me that they want some more Nitrogen. This was not a completely unwelcome sign, as it just means my base soil I mixed up is a little on the light side, but balanced. This is a much easier fix and much less stressful on them than too hot of a mix or an unbalanced one. I simply used a little bit of supersoil to topsoil each plant before I watered a couple days ago, and V1 and V4 already look slightly happier. It'll take another few days for the yellowing to clear up even though the deficiency is gone, so no panicking! They'll be almost ready to transplant by then anyway, so no biggie.
Now for the good news. . . .
We have females! V1 shows pronounced female preflowers in several internodes, as you can see in the pic. I'm fairly certain I can make out the whispiest of pistils on V2, and same story for V3 as well, but it's still too close to call. V4 doesn't seem to be showing yet; however, let me tell you about V4: it has a smell that's very different from the other 3. It's less herby(if that's a word???), and more like rotten fruit -- but sweet fruit, so it's not stinging to the nostrils. V4 also seems to me to have better vigor and stem size than V2 or V3, so I hope it's a female. . . If V4 is a female as well, then as of right now, I'd say V1 and V4 seem like a toss-up for the keeper. Hopefully I'll have them all sexed for sure and have my decision made before it's time to transplant to the 7 gallon pots in 1-3 weeks. If not, I'll transplant just a couple and narrow it down before flowering. Enjoy the pics!
Peace
,
J Dub