www.weedguru.com

I started with seedlings 6-7 weeks ago.
Today,they are 20-26".
I have them growing indoors on a window ledge that sticks out so it gets natural sun all day.
Living in San Diego,it's usually sunny aevery and all day.

The change in the seasons are noticible,but not by much with about a 6-10 degree drops in during fall and winter.

I'd very much like to grow my plants shorter and thicker.(but I think that's too late now)

First thing I HAVE to do is to find the sex of these plants.
There's so much written on the subject,I don't know what to believe.

Is there a "BEST" way of checking for the sex of the plant? A foolproof way?

Is there a time during the season when plants eventually change from their growing phase (which I assume the plant's are in now) to flowering stage,"which from what I've read,I have to initiate one way or the other". Is there a 'way' to tell the they're females, other than checking for white pistals everyday.

I feel as though I'll be waiting forever.

Thank you
BB

Well I can't answer every question (we need WG_Higher for that), but i'll try my best with what i do know...

The vegetative and flowering stages are entirely determined by how many hours of light per day the plant gets. It's pretty common for indoor grows, to have the lights on for 18 hours and off for 6 (18/6 light cycle) or even constant (24 hr cycle, no darkness). Once you want to flower them, you typically switch to a 12/12 cycle, that's 12 hours on 12 hours off.
But since you're relying on the sun, i don't really know... Figure out when the sun rises and sets, and if you need to, add some extra light-time by putting them under artificial lighting (you need at least CFL's or florescent tube lights, incandescent bulbs will not work well)... If you're wanting to start flowering, like i said you need to cut the light to 12/12. That's easier to do, you can just stick the plant in a dark room.

As for the problem of them growing too tall too fast, You need more intense light! They're not getting enough light, like the brightness of it, it's too dim.
Consider either, putting them into more direct sunlight, or adding extra artificial light.

Ok so, your problems are: How long they're in light for, and how much light they're getting.

As for sex, there's no way of telling until 2-3 weeks AFTER they are in the flowering stage.

And you don't HAVE to initiate flowering yourself, if the sun is in the sky for less than 12 hrs, but, i don't even know how it works if you didn't plant them outside in the spring time... that's what you have to do... or go indoors totally, with your own lights and shit... i have to be blunt, this half-way shit doesn't really work too well and things get really complicated... (i know from experience)