Are these lovelys root-bound?

OK....Along with some pix (and some basic set-up info) I have a couple of questions.

The set-up first:

I built a closet using basic 1"x1" "studs" from Home Depot, some 1/4" plywood from same distributor, caulking, etc. The dimensions of the box are 3'x3'x6'. I have a 400w Hydrofarm MH light. The plants are in 2 Gallon pots with a Fox-Farms soil (with some Fox-Farms Peace of Mind all in one fert mixed into the soil and some Gypsum mixed in with the soil too).

I have 2 air vents and fans (used the bathroom fans from HD for this. One up top to draw out hot air -- which hasn't been necessary due to the temps being kept at bay with my AC) One up top and one about 12" up from the floor of the box. I have a little portable AC unit on the side delivering cool air into the space. This thing cranks and where I am living it is a damn REQUIREMENT to have one in order to keep the temps low enough to grow in my garage (it gets to be around 90-100+ in the box without the AC unit...I actually had my first batch wind up with really wispy buds and this was not a very happy time for me, so I bought the AC unit to regulate. Now it stays at an even 85 most of the time and every once in a blue moon -- If I have my kiln and glassworking torch going full blast in my garage, the box will top at 91 degrees.)

I water with Tap water and I have not yet added any nutes to the op. However, I sense it may be coming soon.

They are about 1 month into veg. I used to have aluminum covering my pots. However, I noticed that they had stagnant water trapped in the aluminum. So, I didn't want the roots to get all funky-fied (read------don't want the mold to have a chance to grow or root rot to set in). I ended up taking the aluminum foil off of the pots (if I need to, I will put it back on...what's your opinion on this?) and when I did, I noticed that the roots had grown out of the drain holes. Some were longer than the others and I have included a picture of the 2 plants with the most prolific root growth
to show you...then some more pics of the whole she-bang...

The plants are bag seed (not even choice genetics bag seed but I'm working with what I got here and I think that a lot of potency is lost when extremely rough handling of the plants takes place as what happens with Mexican, Mersch, Schwag, or whatever local label is put on mediocre weed.)

My biggest question is this: Are these plants Root-Bound (only sign I have to go off of is the roots coming out of the bottoms of the pots...no signs of distress so far) and if so, would a 3 gallon pot make much of a difference or are the 5 gals necessary?

I am PLANNING on forcing these plants to flower (basically in order to distinguish the boys from the girlies) and was wondering if the switch had to be made NOW or can it be done during flowering? I would prefer to not buy new and bigger pots period. However, I would really hate buying pots and then going from my 14 plants to whatever after I cull the males and having left over pots once the boys have been dealt with.

So, shoot! Give me your comments, questions, advice, etc.

ALSO: The pic of the filter I am using is the 3rd one from the right. Found the instructions on how to make one from here and dammit if it doesn't work like a charm. No Odor at all until I throw back those curtians.

if your gonna transplant into another pot... do it like 3-4 days before u start flowering. if u dont it might cause too much stress. much like rough handling them like u said....... good luck. i got the AC unit bumping too..... very bawlsy doin it up in the garage. respect

yeah bro.... they're root bound.

If you're askin' if you should move up to a 3 or 5 gallon container, three should suffice, assuming you're not growing really tall plants. Weight the bottom?
I always TP when my planter is all but dry . . . seems to help keep the soil together. Also, I do it at the end of the day, so the plant can "rest" a while before having to go back to work.

plants are beautiful, I would keep them in those pots, unless they start yellowing. I never like to transplant more than a couple time per plant (yr)
they look really fricken nice. lush greenery. taking the foil off will cause the roots to "see" the light and usually the roots will recede. I would not re-pot unless you see that the leaves a twisting or turning yellow. you can label your plants and take clones, and flower them in their own cup of water that way you can weed out the males w/o getting seeds.
cut them just below the node the top of it diagonally,leaving the remains of the branch on the clone. I also make glass, how long you been burning?

Here are the kids at day 6 of 12/12. There are some little thingies where the pre-flowers are at but they are so damn small I can't tell if they are nuts or not. I'll give it a few more days. I'm out in my grow space every time I smoke. I just sit there and meditate while I medicate and gawk at my lovely plants. At any rate, I switched to a very very diluted bit of Tiger Bloom from Fox Farms (I still don't know why some people say their product is crap?). I am starting to water every 3-4 days now too (up from once a week was all they needed before) . I am also using a touch of H2O2 in my water when I have not added nutes. The nutes have only been used once (the day before I switched to my 12/12). They will get used again in another couple of waterings cause the plants seem happy. At any rate, here are some pics.

ONE QUICK QUESTION:::::::::::::::
I started my 12/12 cycle on the first of October. Is that the date that I use to determine the "8 weeks of flowering" etc? Or do I use a rough date of when I first notice flowers?

Och those plants look so damn good. I usually start my 8-12 weeks after I change the lights. The thing is I had a couple of plants I picked early and I waited on the rest. the longer the better. 12 weeks a good, just when the buds get hard, but not too amber. Get a magnifyer.
peas