your plants are looking good man, no need to worry! like I said im in the middle of my first grow and I understand the whole worrying about EVERYTHING! haha, but no worries dude, we can learn through our own experiences. I honestly can't tell you about the buds growing down the stem, cause like you I haven't seen a flowering plant yet until mine, but either way youre getting bud and for free! even if you dont get as much or as big as buds as you hope, there's always your next grows that you can use your experience to improve upon. keep up the good grow man!