how do I know if they are still seedlings or vegging?

I want to FIM and clone some of my babies as soon as physically possible and all the guides say wait till they are in veg but how do I know where seedlings end and veg begins?

all my plants are in 18oz cups about 5 nodes high (cept one runt guy at 4) there only about 11 days old so I thought they'd still be considered seedlings but a bunch of others say after 4 nodes theyre veging. What do you guys think?

also anyone know ways to promote side root growth? I want to make sure when I transplant my babies they are basically 18 oz of heavy roots! I feel like they are just growin straight down though.... any help is appreciated =D

The plant is considered mature when she shows preflowers and alternating nodes.

You can top the plant as soon as she has three or more sets of true leaves. I like to wait till I have about 5 nodes and make clones from the piece I cut off.

It can sometimes be hard to get the the "top" to root. In order to promote side growth, you could "pinch" the top. On a young plant, the lowest cuts will be much easier to root. Hope this helps!

Also, some strains just do not produce much side growth. Something to think about...

zvuv said:

The plant is considered mature when she shows preflowers and alternating nodes.

You can top the plant as soon as she has three or more sets of true leaves. I like to wait till I have about 5 nodes and make clones from the piece I cut off.

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I concur. Preflowers are what you want to look for.

I quit calling my plants "seedlings" after they've formed their first set of true leaves, which are serrated, unlike the rounded cotyledons below them. They are then "vegging" if ya have your lights set to a vegging light period. I'll assume you aren't going 12/12 from seed....

After my seedlings have grown there first set of 3 bladed leaves I no longer consider them seedlings.... Waiting until they preflower takes usually over a month from my experiance... Thats a helluva long time to be calling my plant a seedling....lol...