Northern Americans, or Canadians help me out, Everyone else please add to suggestions

Ok I need to ask a few questions directed towards people from around my area, then I have basic Noob Questions.

1. The ground is unfrozen(3 weeks now) and I want to get my plants in by the end of May, they will be established and about 8 inches. Is this too late? How late can we generally grow (I'm up in winnipeg)?

2. Should I adjust the light cycle inside to match the current day length?

3. At what length of day do plants flower? I know we use 12/12 indoors, but will flowering start at a different day length?

4. We have an auger(sp?) that will drill 14" holes, I was planing on making them 2' deep then priming it with a soil recipe, will this allow enough space for the roots to grow down(there's I reason I want deep roots that I will get to)

5. We have relitively dry summers with sporatic thunderstorms to rehydrate(no where near a desert, but the vegitation gets a little crispy) Should I add crystals to retain moisture?(What are they called again?)

6. I need good drainage because the soil is pretty compacted around here. Once busted up it is good soil but has a fair amount of clay in spots. My worry is that the hole will act like a rain bucket and drown the plant. I have Sunshine mix 4 that I would like to use up outside, it has peat, perlite, and vacumite. I'm not worried about detection in this area. Would this be a good base to a soil recipe?

7. I can get strait manure for free out of the pastures, it's easier to get horse, but I can get cow. Can I just mix this in? If so in what ratio to soil(sunshine mix)? And which is better?

8. We had a tree in the front yard removed and we have wood chips all over the yard. If I rake it up there will be some grass in there. Can I make use of this?

I just want to take the time to tell you about our soil around here. My mom calls it Black Loam. I know our soil tends to contains silt, clay and sand, with rich deposits of peat. originally the land in this region is covered in bush and hosts a wide variety of trees naturally, including poplar, oak, maple, birch, and evergreens(not spruce or scotch pine naturally if that makes a difference. At groung level brush os everywhere along with blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, starwberries, and mushrooms all wind. Once the land is cleared and worked it suppors corn, sunflowers, wheat, canola, flax. and a few legal regulated hemp farms, along with most common veggies out here. There also tend to be deposits of rocks and gravel(lots of sand and gravel pits around here) seeing as we are on a foundation of sedmentary rock, and half a provice south of the canadian sheild.

At this point I just want to hear if here are any soil recipe suggestions.

I'f you've taken the time to read this post thank you, and if you have taken the time to answer even one of my questions I will be ever so grateful. I tried not to post basic noob questions but I need a foundation on which to start so I can adjust my growing method accordingly.

Thanks again.

1. its not to late, obviously the later you wait the less veg time the plant will have wich will result in smaller plants and less yield, would consider july to late to bother with for the yield that you would get from each plant.
2. keep with your normal veg light cycle there is no need to adjust it to the current day length.
3. the dark period that actually triggers flowering can vary from strain to strain but most will start to flower with 10-11 hours of darkness.
4. sounds fine
5. probably a good idea especially if you will not be able to visit them to water the plants very often then crystals should atleast help.
the existing soil if black loam would probably be fine and you probably wouldnt need to use another soil but admendments like manure could help out some just make sure its composted and not fresh would probably mix in 25-50 percent manure with your existing soil as long as its composted you really do not have to worry about adding to much.
horse manure is usually a little better than cow manure.
8. the only thing that I can think of would be to use it as mulch on top of the soil.

The ground is unfrozen(3 weeks now) and I want to get my plants in by the end of May, they will be established and about 8 inches. Is this too late?
How late can we generally grow (I'm up in winnipeg)?

- End of may is not too late but I'd plant like 2nd or 3rd week of May if possible and if it's past the last threat of frost. I like to look at the 10 day forcast about 10 days prior to the average last frost date and then decide. I am south now but have grown as far north as WI

2. Should I adjust the light cycle inside to match the current day length?

- Yes, I do. I keep them under 15 hrs cause that's about the length of day when they go out.

3. At what length of day do plants flower? I know we use 12/12 indoors, but will flowering start at a different day length?
Sometimes about the same 12/12 but not always exactly. Usually in my experience it starts when the days are still a little longer than 12.

4. We have an auger(sp?) that will drill 14" holes, I was planing on making them 2' deep then priming it with a soil recipe, will this allow enough space for the roots to grow down(there's I reason I want deep roots that I will get to)
- Depth is more than sufficient but wider than 14" would be much better. I suggest thoroughly diggig up a spot 24" or more per plant.

5. We have relitively dry summers with sporatic thunderstorms to rehydrate(no where near a desert, but the vegitation gets a little crispy) Should I add crystals to retain moisture?(What are they called again?)
- Yes, absolutely. Adding water crystals helps tremendously. Its a simple addition and it makes no sense not to use it. Start w/ 1.25 the label rate and mix down into top 6-8" (Also called polymer crystals)

6. I need good drainage because the soil is pretty compacted around here. Once busted up it is good soil but has a fair amount of clay in spots. My worry is that the hole will act like a rain bucket and drown the plant. I have Sunshine mix 4 that I would like to use up outside, it has peat, perlite, and vacumite. I'm not worried about detection in this area. Would this be a good base to a soil recipe? Organic amendment of any kind like peat based or compost of various kinds is the best for clay. Works better than sand, pearlite or vermiculite. Add at least 10 quarts / liters for each 2X2 spot. The more the better. Making the spots big enough in diameter (at least 24") will help avoid the rain bucket syndrome you described.

7. I can get strait manure for free out of the pastures, it's easier to get horse, but I can get cow. Can I just mix this in? If so in what ratio to soil(sunshine mix)? And which is better?
- Better to use composted manures even if the straight raw stuff is free. If you use the raw stuff use it sparingly.

8. We had a tree in the front yard removed and we have wood chips all over the yard. If I rake it up there will be some grass in there. Can I make use of this?
- Yes, pile it all around on top as a mulch up to about 4" deep

I just want to take the time to tell you about our soil around here. My mom calls it Black Loam. I know our soil tends to contains silt, clay and sand, with rich deposits of peat. originally the land in this region is covered in bush and hosts a wide variety of trees naturally, including poplar, oak, maple, birch, and evergreens(not spruce or scotch pine naturally if that makes a difference. At groung level brush os everywhere along with blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, starwberries, and mushrooms all wind. Once the land is cleared and worked it suppors corn, sunflowers, wheat, canola, flax. and a few legal regulated hemp farms, along with most common veggies out here. There also tend to be deposits of rocks and gravel(lots of sand and gravel pits around here) seeing as we are on a foundation of sedmentary rock, and half a provice south of the canadian sheild.

- Clear out a patch and dig it up good. Remove all rocks, sticks and debris of all kinds. Add lansdscape fabric and mulch to prevent re-growth and competition.