Are these SIZED for 4/5 weeks old? Please help just a couple easy questions****

1 100wt MH
2 300 wt CFLs
2 150wt Cfls

These Are 2, 13in. Orange Kushies! 7.5 gal res bubblepon system. Im using Botanicare CNS17 Grow, Bloom, and Ripe solution. I started using 100% Bloom 3 days ago and also switched my light time from 22/2 to 12/12. 2 300 watt CFLs (4in diameter) hang above these guys! 2 more 150 watt CFLs hang on the sides for lower branches and reflection on walls. I have about 7 weeks or so, according to the bottle, until harvest? No signs of true PRE flowers.. Just bunching of the leaves in the very top middle, and branching off.. U can see below




I also have a 100watt MH bulb above a 23in. potted orange kush stran. I got all 3 from non-sensi sack, so UNSEXED... Here is the 23incher under the MH with the 2 hydro behind...


Tops of 23in soil plant

Should I already see budding of anykind yet?

Its okay that I switched my light cycle before I see complete flowers?

Should I keep on my Bloom solution for longer than 4 weeks? The directions say to use only Ripe the last 4 weeks...

And thanks for the replys, ++ Rep ALWAYS. This is SUPER important so please help me lol!

I do not see any pictures which will help a lot. One thing I can tell you is to buy a small microscope from Radio Shack or Ebay that is at least 30x. The best way to tell when they are done is by the trichome color from clear to milky to amber. Don't go by what the bottle says on when your plants are ready. Sativa dominant strains tend to take a week or two or longer than indicas to be ready to harvest. Do a google and you'll find plenty of info including pictures of the trichomes. You'll be a head of the game you spend the ten bucks for a microscope. It can make a huge difference in the potency of the buds. It's actually the only way to tell. You shouldn't go by pistil color. It's simple and easy.

If you just switched to 12/12 and and can't tell sex yet be careful. I presume you know to watch for the balls on males, there are pics on the net. Males need to be out of there immediately. I've never used Botanicare nutes. My advice is to be very careful throughout the grow so you don't over do it with the nutrients, better to be under 25% than over 5%, something you should read up on if you don't already understand why. Use Botanicare's instructions but keep the dosages below the recommended until you know what you're looking at. Start a stage such as veg or bloom lower than the recommended amount. In veg 25% of max recommended nutes is a good place to start once the clones are moved into the main grow area. In the bloom stage you can start at 50% or so and watch the leaf tips, you can move up the concentration more quickly in bloom than veg. A key element is being able to continually read your plants health. Look at each one daily. Get those pics up so people can see exactly what is going on. These are my opinions and I am far from an expert. You should be safe with the advice I've given however.

Hey sorry about the pix, IDK why they didnt show up.. now the Trichomes are in the middles right?
And w/ my nutes i do gradually make it stronger not 100% right away.
Thx for the reply +rep

are you linking them from your picasa account or something? best thing to do is click the "manage attachments" button and then upload from your PC

The trichomes are the crystally sugar like coating on the bud. They are tiny. Here is some good info with pics: http://www.420magazine.com/forums/harvest-preparation-curing/56899-how-know-when-harvest.html

I should add that this guy likes to harvest when half the trichomes are milky. This depends on the high you want and the strain. Others will wait until half the trichomes are amber. One is no more right than the other.

If I were you I would not use 100% nute strength at all. I've seen recommended concentrations from some nutrient manufacturers that will burn plants. One brand is a favorite but their recommended tds levels can ruin a crop. Nutrient strength is to be upped with caution! You can kill or at minimum ruin your yield if you burn them. Learn to look at the very tip of the leaves. If more than the very tip is turned brown then flush. If the tips are turning brown back off immediately on the concentration. Don't take for gospel what the bottles try to tell you. You want leaves that are green, not yellow or brown areas on them.