Need help making space and selecting plants

[CarpeDiamonds]

Hey guys,
So I've currently got 4 plants in a 46x52cm cabinet 150cm tall. Oldest plant is about 40 days old the rest are a few days younger. They are all in 4.5L plastic pots. The spacing at the moment is a bit tight and there's some overlap on the leaves. I've had some issues with the plants characterized by yellowing of the leaves and necrosis most likely caused by over and underwatering or perhaps something else.
Anyhow, just wondering where I should go from here with regards to my limited space. I was hoping to get one male one female to get some more seeds so I have a good supply but I haven't noticed any early signs of gender so far. There seems to be some very minor growths on the left side of the stipules but I cant make out if its a calyx or a pollen sac.
Should I just pick the two healthiest plants to keep and hope for the best? Height development seems to have slowed down lately and a couple of the lower fan leaves have died off. It seems like they are in need of a transplant into bigger pots. What would happen if I pushed all four into flowering now without a transplant? I take it that would be bad?
Here are some recent photos

Photo below is J2

Photo below is J1

Photo below is K1

Photo below is No.2

Let me know if you want me to provide any other info or close up photos
@Kampbe1l
@Aqua Man

 

[Aqua Man]

Hey guys,
So I've currently got 4 plants in a 46x52cm cabinet 150cm tall. Oldest plant is about 40 days old the rest are a few days younger. They are all in 4.5L plastic pots. The spacing at the moment is a bit tight and there's some overlap on the leaves. I've had some issues with the plants characterized by yellowing of the leaves and necrosis most likely caused by over and underwatering or perhaps something else.
Anyhow, just wondering where I should go from here with regards to my limited space. I was hoping to get one male one female to get some more seeds so I have a good supply but I haven't noticed any early signs of gender so far. There seems to be some very minor growths on the left side of the stipules but I cant make out if its a calyx or a pollen sac.
Should I just pick the two healthiest plants to keep and hope for the best? Height development seems to have slowed down lately and a couple of the lower fan leaves have died off. It seems like they are in need of a transplant into bigger pots. What would happen if I pushed all four into flowering now without a transplant? I take it that would be bad?
Here are some recent photos
View attachment 1061144
Photo below is J2

View attachment 1061146
Photo below is J1
View attachment 1061147
Photo below is K1
View attachment 1061145
Photo below is No.2
View attachment 1061148
Let me know if you want me to provide any other info or close up photos
@Kampbe1l
@Aqua Man

I would remove the dying leaves. Its hard to say butbif your shooting for a mal and female i would holdnoff until you can identify them.

 

[mysticepipedon]

You can flower in small pots, but it can add stress which can make some female plants pop a few male flowers.

Most plants show preflowers by 5 - 6 weeks, so it shouldn't be long. Do you have a hand lens to check preflowers? When they show, I would up-pot into slightly larger pots (~5cm wider) if you have room.

If you have more than one male, I'd get rid of at least one. Rub stems and smell them. Keep the one that smells like weed you like — that is, if you like fruity scented weed, keep a fruity male. If you like stanky-ass skunky weed, go for a stanky-ass skunky male.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

I would remove the dying leaves. Its hard to say butbif your shooting for a mal and female i would holdnoff until you can identify them.

Got ya, I'll hold off and wait a bit longer till genders visible. I recently removed a bunch of dead leaves so I'm waiting a bit longer before I remove more because I'm scared I'll stress the plants. Do you think that's smart or does it really not matter?

 

[Aqua Man]

Got ya, I'll hold off and wait a bit longer till genders visible. I recently removed a bunch of dead leaves so I'm waiting a bit longer before I remove more because I'm scared I'll stress the plants. Do you think that's smart or does it really not matter?

If they are dying I pull em. Decaying leaves attract bugs. These plants are much more resilient than ya think.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

You can flower in small pots, but it can add stress which can make some female plants pop a few male flowers.

Most plants show preflowers by 5 - 6 weeks, so it shouldn't be long. Do you have a hand lens to check preflowers? When they show, I would up-pot into slightly larger pots (~5cm wider) if you have room.

If you have more than one male, I'd get rid of at least one. Rub stems and smell them. Keep the one that smells like weed you like — that is, if you like fruity scented weed, keep a fruity male. If you like stanky-ass skunky weed, go for a stanky-ass skunky male.

I got magnifying glass I've been using and a USB microscope that I'll use to check. Is there a particular reason you said to select the smelliest male plant in or is selecting a smelly female equally as important?
Planning on up-potting into a tall clean paint bucket when they're ready, maybe 10L or so.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

If they are dying I pull em. Decaying leaves attract bugs. These plants are much more resilient than ya think.

I've been snapping them off and leaving the stems, should I do that? Will new growth appear from the stems if I remove the leaves or does that not happen.
Also do you think the leaves in the photo labelled K1 look like a calcium deficiency or is it the same watering issues as the other plants? I noticed they look a little different from the rest and kind of match the pictures of calcium deficiency I'm looking at in this pamphlet.

 

[chemistry]

Flower K1 in a five gallon pot and it will fill that space on it's own. Bottom left plant in first pic.

 

[RR1]

I got magnifying glass I've been using and a USB microscope that I'll use to check. Is there a particular reason you said to select the smelliest male plant in or is selecting a smelly female equally as important?
Planning on up-potting into a tall clean paint bucket when they're ready, maybe 10L or so.

It doesn't matter about this male or that female, you've only got 4 plants. Not much in the way of choices there. But as far as breeding, you're not there yet. You haven't learned enough about how to even grow healthy plants yet. Walk before you run. Don't get in a hurry, you'll get there. Takes awhile to figure out indoor. Work on all the environmental and feeding issues first.
Patience.
RR1

 

[Aqua Man]

Flower K1 in a five gallon pot and it will fill that space on it's own. Bottom left plant in first pic.

+1 if its female.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Flower K1 in a five gallon pot and it will fill that space on it's own. Bottom left plant in first pic.

Yeah I have high hopes for K1, although it recently got dehydrated and took a bit of damage. Are you saying I should abandon my attempt to get more seeds? I'm only doing it because I live in an illegal location and am worried about the implications of ordering seeds online constantly.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

It doesn't matter about this male or that female, you've only got 4 plants. Not much in the way of choices there. But as far as breeding, you're not there yet. You haven't learned enough about how to even grow healthy plants yet. Walk before you run. Don't get in a hurry, you'll get there. Takes awhile to figure out indoor. Work on all the environmental and feeding issues first.
Patience.
RR1

Yeah I get you. Only reason I'm growing more than honestly is because the seeds aren't feminised. Otherwise I'd focus all my attention on one plant. Also like i replied to chemistry I'm worried about the implications of ordering seeds online in my location which is why I'm looking to breed. Not really looking to selectively breed the best plant or anything just want to stock up on seeds.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

@Aqua Man @chemistry
Hey people, so I let my plants mature a bit more, unfortunately they look like they're in worse shape then before. I can definitely make out the preflowers now though, and I'm suspecting that some of them are Hermies. Some of them seem to have a female part on the left side and what looks like a male pollen sac on the right. Wondering where I should go from here. I can fit one 20L paint bucket in my space. I might transplant K1 into one of these paint buckets and flower it as suggested however I'm not sure if its still the healthiest of the bunch. It hasn't really grown as much as the others and now its displaying more of the typical yellow leaf symptoms I've been seeing. I suspect its not receiving enough nutrients or its outgrown its 4.5L pot. Alternatively I can try find two 10L pots that fit and try my original plan which was to breed for seeds.

Here are some updated photos of the plants with the gender I suspect it is along with pre-flowers. I've left some dead leaves on for now as I was having trouble noticing whether symptoms were getting worse.

Here is K1: Pretty sure its a female,

Here is J2: Are those black spots mold
? Definitely a female

Here is J1, second tallest, not too sure on gender might be hermie.

Here is No.2, the tallest of the bunch:

 

[GNick55]

i hope you get ALL the help you need to get these healthy, personally i would trash them and start over,
when you start fresh, come here with all your info and the farm will get you to the finish with beautiful buds!.

 

[Aqua Man]

They look cold. Would also remove the dead leaves.

Number 2 looks male. Last pic.

Others look female but give it more time to confirm.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

i hope you get ALL the help you need to get these healthy, personally i would trash them and start over,
when you start fresh, come here with all your info and the farm will get you to the finish with beautiful buds!.

Yeah, not too sure where I'm going wrong kind of feel overwhelmed with all the possibilities. really hoping to have a more successful next run. I would like to see how this goes though purely for learning purposes.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

They look cold. Would also remove the dead leaves.

Number 2 looks male. Last pic.

Others look female but give it more time to confirm.

Cold as in temperature? It's summer here so that's odd. What symptoms make you think they're cold? I doubt temps have dropped below 20C but I'll keep an eye on temps.

 

[Rooke]

They look cold. Would also remove the dead leaves.

Number 2 looks male. Last pic.

Others look female but give it more time to confirm.

Definitely get those dead leaves off of them fast buddy you’re inviting mold and bugs into your grow otherwise take your chances imho

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Definitely get those dead leaves off of them fast buddy you’re inviting mold and bugs into your grow otherwise take your chances imho

Will do mate, I stopped for a bit just so I could compare between the four and see which ones were loosing the most leaves. They all seem just as bad though.

 

[GNick55]

Yeah, not too sure where I'm going wrong kind of feel overwhelmed with all the possibilities. really hoping to have a more successful next run. I would like to see how this goes though purely for learning purposes.

i agree!