How to tell when the plant is ready to flower?

Yo,
I've had some bag seed for a while now and decided I wanted to try to grow on my own. My plant is growing beautifully and is about 2 and a half feet tall, my question is what do preflowers actually look like and how do I know if my plant is ready to bud? I've seen pictures on other forums and I've done my research but I still cannot find a decent photo of preflowers. I'm pretty sure my plant doesn't have any but I was just curious as to when I could expect them to appear. Thanks again!! (I'll put some pictures up later on tonight)

u can swich to 12/12 any time u like ur plant will double in size from time u switch till almost done after u switch u should see pre flowers two little white hairs within a few days

So it doesn't matter when I change them to 12/12? What happens if they aren't ready?

some ppl start 12/12 from seed they will start to flower when u switch

You need to put the lights on 12/12 to initiate flowering. You must be sure to keep it totally dark for the 12 hours the light is off or your results will suffer. Keep this light timing until harvest. Lots of phosphorous and potassium the last month of flowering. Pre-flowers look like little white hairs coming out of where your leaves meet the stems. If you see little balls, kill it because it is male.

There are a few pictures of my male and female! I think the first picture is a female and the rest are of the male! Please correct me if I'm wrong.