how do you tell if its male or female

[Devin Sticky Bud]

how do you tell before it flowers or buds

[LIP]

You dont, you have to stick the lights onto 12/12 and wait for preflowers. If its male it'll have balls forming at the internode, but if its female (which is the good one) then it'll have to little whipsy white hairs forming a "V" at the internode. For the plant to show this it could take as little as 3 days, or it could take up to 2 weeks. Once you know the sex, take the males out of the room being very careful not to shake them. If you do shake them and one of the balls has opened it can turn some of your bud into seed. You could then carry on flowering the females or revert back to 18/6 and keep vegging it. Good luck.

[Jdog7000]

Or just wait and about 6 weeeks into veg the pre-flowers will start to form on your plants naturally.But if you are in a hurry to make your plants take longer then go ahead and change the light cycle back and forth!JK

[Devin Sticky Bud]

HAHA WONT THAT CAUSE TO MUTCH STRESS JDOG!!!!...:)...i think im going to just take as long as i can with these buds... :)

[Swizzy89304]

VERY early female plant (note the little white pistils).
This is on a LOWRYDER by the wy.