Topping and Identifying

Hey guys, this is my first time trying to grow, im using the aerogarden, yes i know its not great. Basically I just want to know if I topped this plant right:



Also, do I have to put my plant into the flowering stage before I can identify if its male or female? To me there are no signs of sex, i've read on identifying and I can't really tell.





Heres a couple pics



My other plant:



It's been 3.5-4 weeks into veg stage, not really sure when to start the flowering stage, any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

how tall are they?

looks like u can start flowering now if u ask me,plants look irie,the first pic looks like female to me looks lik pre flowers,hard to tell on the others

They are pretty short, like 1 foot or so. I keep the light about 1-2 inches away from the plants.

yeah your good to go im in my first grow so in no expert on topping thou

your top looks good bro. be ready for an explosion of leaves... and buds if you start flowering.

if you veg long enough they will show sex

On average, how long do most people keep their plant in the veg stage before flowering?

anywhere from 3-8 weeks. Longer veg time = bigger plant = more bud = less patient

Alright cool thanks, I was planning on waiting another 2 weeks or more for the topping to heal up anyways.

I always top my plants too and then i let them preflower before throwing into flowering...like the other guy said...the longer you wait the better you get, it's like wine...the more you let it age the better it is.

richkid said:

Alright cool thanks, I was planning on waiting another 2 weeks or more for the topping to heal up anyways.

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a very good idea.

My other plant has a few redish-purple stems, is this a lack in nutrients?

How did you get your stems that fat? They look great! looks like a mini tree trunk.

No,, its not lack of nutes,, lookin real good,, nuthin wrong purple stems are normal on some plants..................................................................

LowEyeHighGuy said:

How did you get your stems that fat? They look great! looks like a mini tree trunk.

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I have no idea, it's the only plant that has larger stems. My other plants have smaller stems, so I really don't know.

LowEyeHighGuy said:

How did you get your stems that fat? They look great! looks like a mini tree trunk.

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Good powerful lights as close as safely possible will get you nice short bushy plants with fat stems.

and luck and experience too

They look great, I wish I knew how to make my stems get that fat. I bet you are going to get a good ass yield out of that plant, cuz it looks like it can hold some weight. Good Job!

email468 said:

Good powerful lights as close as safely possible will get you nice short bushy plants with fat stems.

and luck and experience too

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I was looking at your grow journal and your plants look great. How'd you get them so bushy?

richkid said:

I was looking at your grow journal and your plants look great. How'd you get them so bushy?

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just like i said - i use a 400w MH and a 600w HPS dual-spectrum through the whole grow. I keep the light close but not so close as to harm the plants.

good powerful lights - a fan helps but in my opinion is mostly to keep fresh air moving.

Of course you need to make sure the other staples are applied correctly: water, food, growing medium, fresh air, etc..

and thanks for the kind words about my plants - i learned the most on that grow i think (or at least until my next one anyway).