how far along can i take clones?

i have always grown outdoors but i took it inside for this go around. im growing 20 plants in dwc totes. i did not get fem seeds cuz i was broke so i was wondering how far into flower can i take clones? they have been on 12/12 for 5 days not showing sex yet and i was gonna wait until they did start showing sex before i killed the males and cloned the females. is this ok?

Wait until your potential mothers show their lady parts, toss the males and throw moms back into veg mode, clone as you shall. Not really recommended you take clones in flowering, but you can take them whenever you want realistically. They will just take longer to root.

so if i take a clone right after they show their sex it will take longer to root. also i was gonna clone each of the plants and lable what plant they came off of. and the highest yeilding plant i was gonna keep that clone and grow her out for the mother is this a viable method of decideing on a mother?

Yes.

As far as keeping mothers goes, whatever works best for your setup... run with that. Personally I get fem seeds, grow them out and take clones, flower then decide what pheno I like best.

cool man thats what im gonna do them. o have the space to grow 42 plants but only have 20 goin right now. cant wait to fill that room up man

I hear that. Fuck living in an illegal state. Good luck.

I've taken clones a week before harvest.
It takes forever for them to root & veg (like a month!), but I just could not let that girl go.

yes...you can take clones once they are flowering...but it takes a little longer for them to start vegging than a clone taken prior to flower...
but if you take the clone right after the plant shows sex it...as in when it still has preflowers, then it shouldn't need to really reveg...I have successfully cloned at the 5th week of flower...haven't tried it past then...but if you can reveg the same already harvested plant after it has totally completed it's lifecycle, then it stands to reason that you can clone at any time...I am cloning a popcorn bud now...it has a few stringy roots, but as of yet no plant growth...It just takes a little longer when the plant has been flowering...

The clones will root in the same amount of time...but they won't start growing leaves and what not right away the way a clone taken in veg will...