Where does the bud grow from?

I put my first plant into 12/12 a few days ago. There seems to be quite a bit of growth in the spots between the stalk and the branches. Is this where the buds grow from? What is this growth? It doesn't look like the beginning of flower buds.

Since I'm a homebrewer and gardener as well, I'm growing hops in the back yard. Now hops and marijuana are very similar, botanically speaking, and the hops are budding in the same spot, between the main vine and the leaves...

Thanks for your help!

Ya you just want to look at the highest nodes, at least for me the preflowers
always show there first. After a week or so you should be able to look at the ends
of the shoots as well.

Yes thats is where they will start to form. Those are where the reproductive organs are, let them be male or female. If it has lil white hairs, then yes thats were it will start to form. If its got nuts kill the bastard, unless your breeding.