Also, those are pre-flowers alright. I can clearly see the big ol' hairs pokin' in your first photo. My eye has become super trained. I can spot hairs on a female (when growing from a seed, because clones show female hairs even in veg) even when they are almost too small to see with the naked eye. Ah, those days of sexing seed plants... nostalgic.
Edit: also note that the fresh developing leaves of your tops have started that "cupping" or "praying" shape. That's where the big nugs develop. I really wouldn't mind stuffing some of that in my vape when it's done. LSD, huh? hmmm. Looking lush. I'm impressed by the detail in the deeply serrated leaf edges. You can tell that the plant is of superior genetics because of the fine detail in the development of the leaves. You're doing great. Keep it up. Again, I wish I could smoke it. I can already tell it's gonna be great weed.
Edit again (sorry, high and having afterthoughts): If you're worried about some of your taller branches getting too close to light (something I'm all too familiar with), I see easy opportunity for late lst. You could easily tie a cotton string to those and fasten them downward. This will tend to open up the entire bush structure, giving you more exposure and power to the smaller inner sub-tops. This improves the canopy and consequently yield... not to mention keeping your highest tops safe (safer) from burning. ** you get two stars for your choice in clippers. I have the spring loaded Fiskars too. Isn't it great? I don't need a grinder because of it. Mine serves double duty as a bud grinder when smoking. Those blades are indestructible and they never get dull. A nice piece of engineering. You don't want to trim bud for 16 hours with anything less imo.
Goddammit! Edit Again! Your nute reading question. If you haven't drastically increased the dissolved solids in your res from what they were in late veg, you should be fine. Increase gradually with a smaller res like yours... you can't go as cowboy as me. But ALWAYS watch your plant carefully. One of the greatest advantages to growing hydro is the speed of plant reaction. Meaning if you fuck something up, you'll see it faster and you can correct it virtually immediately by various remedial measures. Something soil growers (sorry Snicker and Chairman...but i bet the two of you would be great at hydro) have a harder time with because of slower plant reaction to remedial measures. And I read horror stories here of people having to manually flush like nine gallons of water through each of their many soil pots? Back breaking. I love smoking a good soil grow, but I could never do it. I'm pretty lame when it comes to that lol.
FINAL EDIT I PROMISE:
A related note on soil vs. hydro. Soil, as they say, is the stuff of mother earth. So please don't take me for one of those hydro, know-it-all snobs. I realize there is something more of an artificial element to water growing with concentrated liquid nutrient, and nothing really beats say a pure organic soil grown bud in the hands of a true master. The nuances from having been grown in the more natural way they were intended does have an impact on overall quality. The yield may not be as crazy, but there's something to be said for quality over quantity. Hydro growing is great for me because 1. I'm incompetent with soil. I've tried it in the past and have done some pretty embarrassing shite. Nute-lock, I hate you. 2. I'm lazy. I actually do believe that hydro, contrary to popular belief, is much, much easier than soil. 3. See number 2. Hydro is EASIER than soil. I don't care what anyone says. Snicker and Chairman, a low pro tub from your local walmart... a small 'steamer' setup not unlike Dave's? Hmmmm? Lol.
