first time norcal grow...how am i doing so far?

this plant started out as the first seed i ever found in a sack since i moved to cali from florida. it first sprouted in the beginning of march..so 5 months now.

my hard drive crashed, and had all of the pics from the first month or so.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010129.jpg

cat ate the biggest of the first leaves :(

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010132.jpg

george with "danka"

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010326.jpg

the "hybrid" grow room :D

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010248.jpg

couple weeks ago
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010273.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/DSC_8357.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/DSC_8359.jpg

5 mins ago (now 22"):
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010443.jpg

info:
i have zero experience/knowledge whatsoever in growing plants of any kind.

i've been watering it every day since it first sprouted using a gradually increasing amount in a simple measuring cup with a spout...now up to about 3/4-1cup daily. i just found out that i shouldn't have been watering it every day, but when the soil "weighs" less or something. either way, it's still alive and seems pretty healthy to me. "she" resides in that upside down basket thing to deter the kitty. i have a little stand outside the window that i set it on during most of the day hours, unless it's especially cold or windy out. so basically it's being grown in our living quarters with natural sunlight in a fairly clean environment.

questions/dilemmas:
i bought a bottle of floranova brand plant food and was told to use it with every other watering. i don't even know how much or often i should be watering it at this point, let alone the proper amount of floranova. (i added 2 tsps mixed in with 1cup water today)

what phase is it in? vegetative? it still seems to be growing somewhat, although it has definitely slowed down in vertical growth since we pruned it about a month ago. i just started pulling off some of the yellowing plants, but should i pluck the weak and small green leaves near the bottom of the first leaves? should i just pull all the smaller growth that isn't getting sunlight?

should i/how do i induce a 12/12 hour light cycle or does this occur naturally in the fall-winter months? (i was told by a grower that i would know gender in august, and harvest sometime in october) i'm getting a growspot LED light sometime next week, but i also read that LEDs are only really meant for seedling-vegetative growth.

i'm going to the gardening store tomorrow to get a proper lighting setup (hps or metal halide) for a future project. i believe i read that i can also "induce" flowering my current plant by using 12 or 24 hour lighting with one of these light setups.

now this is kind of embarassing, but i honestly can't tell if my plant is a male or female! :( i have tendril or tentacle like things poking out, and i don't see any "balls," but i'm still don't know 100%. is it still too early?

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/P1010457.jpg

i'm really uneducated at all this, like i imagine so many people are when they first come to this forum. thanks a lot for any tips you might have.