Can too bushy be bad???

I have about 4 plants going right now, the biggest one is about 6 inches high and has about 10 nodes and is so thick with growth you can't see the stem on the inside. I was wondering if this is bad? I raised the lights a bit to stretch them but it really doesnt seem to be making much difference. They are all in a DWC with CFL. Medium is rockwool, perlite and rocks. I also was wondering if I could just put it in flower mode now and hope for a double in size and a big yield. The biggest plant is only like 3 weeks old but its big for its age and the root system is big. Did I mention that I have no idea the sex on these since they are from random bagseed. SO, I also wanted to know if it is possible to take a cutting and force it to show sex in order to find out what they are and keep them in the veg state longer? I know these are a lot to answer but i would really appreciate any advice you can offer...Oh, and for the person who asks for pics my camera is broken. Hopefully I can go grab another one soon.

my opinion is the more leaves the better because they take in the light. once they go in flower they will definately stretch and at least double in size and there should be more places for light to get through if that's the concern. and yes, you can absolutely flower a clone to determine sex. if you want you could even reveg the clone until it was bigger and flower it for real. growth would pretty much slow to a halt but would eventually pick back up.

Total Head said:

my opinion is the more leaves the better because they take in the light. once they go in flower they will definately stretch and at least double in size and there should be more places for light to get through if that's the concern. and yes, you can absolutely flower a clone to determine sex. if you want you could even reveg the clone until it was bigger and flower it for real. growth would pretty much slow to a halt but would eventually pick back up.

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I second this.

-Fish

Depends on strain. I dont like alot of leaves. The largest produceing strains in the world have low leaf count compared to calyx ratio. Hints....Big Bud,Power Kush. I dont use a whole lot of n in veg, just enough. Peace,SS

to many leaves in to small a space can be a mold prob

I really appreciate the help. The inner growth is great there are 5 finger leaves all along the inside. I am more concerned with it affecting my yield. Also I had another question...whats the worst that can happen aside from death from too much nutes and how hard is it to over dose? I fed my babies today and I put in a bit more than last time and a few hours after they didn't look as perky as they have been. I haven't been home to check since but i hope they bounce back. I think it is mainly a pH issue, I tested after feeding and it was low even for hydro. I expect once the nutes break down more the pH will rise. Anyone else expirience this?

more leaves will definately not stunt growth, but as someone mentioned it can make mold issues if it is hindering air flow. nute burn can stunt growth and dystroy healthy leaves and roots which affects the plant's ability to sustain itself. every strain is different so there isn't really a magic amount of nutes to use. best thing to do is to slowly work your way up in strength until you see an issue beginning and that will give you a good idea of what the plant can take. you want to avoid major ph flux at all costs. aside from creating absorption issues with certain nutes, the plant just plain doesn't like it, and it makes nute def or overdose harder to diagnose. as far as what your ph in your solution will be after the nutes break down, that would depend partly on what type of nutes/water you use.

@Total Head- So I said yesterday that they were wilted I believe and that I was worried....Typically my pH spikes after adding nutes. So yesterday when I fed them I assumed that it would rise and I went ahead and added downer...Then nothing the pH was hella low and the plants looked sad. i knew the pH was low so last night before bed I decided to add some pH Up. I woke up this AM and checked em out and they looked normal again, it looked like the plants where "sturdy" again So I check the pH and it was high as I expected from the nutes. Do a lot of you experience a spike when you add nutes or does it just depend on the type, medium etc.? It usually takes about 12 hours for my nutes to really break down. There has been wild pH changes Hopefully the plants will be unaffected.

P.S. My water comes outta the spigot around 6.0 pH

To everyone else, I was also wondering about ways to feed and add water without having to pull the pots out of the raft. My root systems are getting far too large for me to keep picking up the pots. I am VERY careful when i do it and it is the only way i can feed right now because all of the plants are on a raft. This was an unforseen design flaw. So I was thinking of getting a large syringe and adding tubing to it in order to pump the nutes into the water without any disturbance. Has anyone had to do this before or is there a better method?

Also, one more thing. I wanted to know when I feed in a reservoir, I usually add the nutes to a gallon of water and mix it in and then add it. The plants usually drink about a lil more than a gallon a week. I was wondering if I should add nutes according to the size of the tank 10 gal. or should I add nutes according to the amount of water I would add (1 gal.)? I have been doing the 10 gal. method and I have been taking it a lil light on the dosage for the first 2 while slowly increasing. Tablespoons, Yo!
Thanks again ahead of time.