Stages of Flowering?

I have three beautiful ladies growing in my closet. They have 20 to 30 clusters of white hairs on each of them. This is my second attempt at growing the first ended in very dead plants:( before they got to this point so this is new to me still. I'm wondering if these clusters of white hairs are actualy buds, cause they don't really look like buds.
Also the term flowering is used, do the plants get actual flowers?
I have tried to find info on these questions on google and some of the marijuana websites but had no luck.
I know these are probebly stupid questions to some of you, but I was always tought the only stupid question is the one not asked.

Thanks,
WiccanTink

the pistils are the female flowers. once you flip them to 12/12 your plants will go through the 40/60 phenomena. basically it states that the first 40% of the time in flower your plants will stretch. the last 60% will be when the buds start to fatten up. the buds are merely the plant producing more flowers to try to catch a male's pollen.


-shake

If you have little clusters you must be 3 to 4 weeks into flower. The MJ flower is like no other. Watching the little clusters grow into big clusters are my favorite time. Means big buds are not far away. If you have got this far keep doing what your doing.

Oh, When they get bigger please share some pic's or now just to let others see what new flowers look like. It helps others.
We like pic's. They tell the whole story.

And watch out for pods with no white hair hanging down. No men allowed. LOL

Thank you so much for answering my question. I have already cut down the two males I had and I watch everyday to make sure my ladies don't go male on thiere bottoms. I will try to get some pics up so everyone can see how far along they are. Thanks again.

I recently bought the books "Buds for Less" and "The Big Book of Buds Vol 3" and I found Buds for Less especially helpful. It helped me get over my obsessing about leaves getting yellow and dying. It's just part of the process of ripening and is a good sign your moving forward.

Buds for Less
Amazon.com: Marijuana Buds for Less: Grow 8 oz. of Bud for Less Than $100 (9780932551870): SeeMoreBuds: Books

Big Book of Buds series of books
Amazon.com: big book of buds 4: Books