Already flowering from seed in 1 month--whoops--so I can't take clones?

Hello Elders,
I followed the advice given of reading the Cervantes book before I started my very first grow. Even read relevant chapters of the Riley book and, of course, have been soaking in endless knowledge from all the posts here at the forum. I knew there would be mistakes I'd make, but I love learning so nothing could be lost on this venture. Thanks to everyone here, I had a 100% successful germination, transplant and vigorous growth on this micro-grow on a balcony cooking in the Caribbean sun. 3 seeds: 1 Shaman, 1 Tangerine Dream and 1 Super Lemon Haze. I went with a slightly modified LC's Mix (Recipe #2 and then Organic Food Source Recipe #1)--basically a super soil and the plants look great after a little over 1 month. Yes, they did get kind of leggy, and my plan was to start LST with gentle wiring after they had 5 nodes. Sticking to plan, I LST'd the Shaman and the TD (which both grew considerably faster than the SLH--especially the Shaman). But now--even though I necessarily started LST on Sept 10, (only 28 days after germination) the Shaman has begun to flower--and I guess that's cool. It was a risk I took planting when I did, just 2 months before typical harvest time, but I thought I could trick the plants onto a 16/8 cycle with a metal halide street lamp that's about 12 feet from the balcony and shines very brightly all night. I know, 12 feet away is far from ideal, but no money here to invest in indoor equipment. With the Shaman lying pretty flat due to the first tie down, new branches are shooting out of the sides like no one's business, and I think over the next 9 or so weeks of flower, a lot of that is going to turn into flowers too. The whole process--mistakes made and pending--is so beautiful, isn't it?
ANYWAY, all advice I've read (Cervantes, Riley, the posts here) about when to take clones insists that the plant be 2 months old, not to mention that it should be in vegetative growth. This is a bit of a quandary I couldn't solve from other posts I found. Riley says one could take a clone cutting after harvest, assuming there are healthy branches alive below. There's still hope for the TD and the SLH as they haven't begun to flower, but what would you say about the best way to clone this Shaman?

Thank you so much!

Okay, so maybe that was too wordy, but no ideas from 185 viewers? I'll be less confusing: My Shaman is flowering after only one month of growing from seed, but I wanted to take clone cuttings from it. But I'm not supposed to take cuttings from a plant less than 2 months old, and it's best to take cuttings when it is in vegetative growth. What do you believe is the best option? Take one now anyway while it is in flower or should I wait until after harvest and hope for some thriving branches below?

Thanks again in advance for whatever advice you might have.

Take clones anyway, its worth a shot at least, chances are they will flower early too though.

Take the plant inside, and hit it with 24 hours of light for a week or so to kick it back into veg, then take clones and put it back outside. Reveged plants get REAL bushy and put off a shit load of new shoots. Some people prefer to take their clones this way.

yeah i would give it a go at taking clones now should be fine, the main rule is dont take clones after 2 weeks of flower latest or should i say dont stress your plants in any way as it can seriously effect the plant. happy growing though mate! GW

Cool, thanks for the ideas and possible outcomes. I think I'm going to take one clone as an experiment, then take another (or a few) after harvest from the bottom, and finally, try to return the harvested plant to vegetative state once again. Found some really great posts here about that very real possibility, though it appears to work better with indica strains. But if successful, the yields could increase significantly on a 2nd harvest according to many posts.

You can take clones after it has 5-6 sets of leaves ( or at least the first one) and up to a few weeks into flowering with good results.

If it's really branching take 6 branches and clone from the bottom,if less branching take about 4 for the bottom.

Hey, don't be dismayed by the inverse relationship between number of views and number of comment -- a lot of people are just learning (as I am) and read many posts but aren't in a position to comment because of lack of experience. That's actually a good thing.

Good luck with your grow -- and great writing style, BTW.

Thanks, kryptoniteglo, and everyone. Hey Johnbaked, this is what confuses me about cloning: you say that it's possible after it has five or six sets of leaves, but mine have all grown straight up with leaf sets exactly opposite each other, but no outgrowth from them. In other words, two tiny branches--each with a single big leaf--grow out opposite each other while the main stem grows higher and then produces a nearly identical leaf set--nothing more. I believe this is normal, but every video I've seen shows clones being taken from these beautifully bushy mother plants' branches that are growing close to a foot (30cm) away or more from the main stem and are not connected to the main stem--directly anyway. The clones appear to be branches of branches that are connected to the main stem, if that makes any sense, and they have at least a few nodes. So if one only has 5 or 6 sets of leaves on the plant, what would the clone consist of? One of the tiny, thin branches with its one big leaf that makes up half of a leaf set? Is that enough? This is where I am confused.

But things have changed with the flowering Shaman; since I started LST; it has started to vigorously produce branches from where the first leaf sets meet the main stem, and these look like they're all going to produce flowers, too, so far. So with everything wanting to flower, where am I supposed to take the clone? Would I have to sacrifice a flower, do you think? I suppose there are worse dilemmas....

I've managed to maintain the Tangerine Dream and Super Lemon Haze in vegetation so far, and they are starting to produce the same branches from where the first leaf sets meet the main stem. Hopefully I'll be able to get them past the 2 month critical mark before taking clones. They likely will have produced "branches of branches" from where I can take clones.

By the way, this LST training is fantastic, though I was hesitant to do it on a first grow--the plants are very responsive and resilient so far.