Northern outdoor grow?

I've been contemplating an outdoor grow this year but I'm faced with a geographical problem. I live north of the 50th parallel and our days switch to 12/12 around the same time first frosts hit. One website (Outdoor Growing in Colder Climates.) said that if I start indoors (which I want to do anyways) and then put them on a 12/12 cycle for a week before planting outdoors, flowering will be started and then once they're outside they'll continue vegging but also will be producing buds, despite the fact that they'll be under cycles closer to 16/8 instead of 12/12. Does anyone have any comments on this? Has anyone tried growing outside up North? (I'm in Northern BC)

most plants dont need 12/12 to start flowering usually they need somewhere between 10 -11 hours of dark period to start flowering so just pick an early flowering strain. or you may even try one of the autoflowering strains or autoflowering crosses veg them indoors to get them started and then place them outdoors.
you do not want to start flowering before you put them outdoors they will not continue to develop buds they will reveg and it will only set the plants back.

ditto bejay. They get all fucked up when we tried that. If you can start indoor you can schedule to grow mothers and have clones ready to plant as soon as the ground is warm and no chance of frost. Also, you can plant clones or seed early like that and still germinate another crop and get them in the ground about mid summer. Smaller yeild but still finish about the same time as the early planting. I've read of people using black covers to start flowering early outdoors, but I don't know how sneeky that is...

Shov

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. I am starting indoors, so I suppose I'll just continue down that path and skip the week of 12/12. It would have been a pain in the butt anyhow. Cheerio.

Hey SaanenGoats, I had the same problems a few years ago so I started growing and collecting Auto flower strains from all over Canada.
Heres a Guerilla Gold Strain ready for harvest.
Oh yah we're neighbors I live in Alberta.

Thanks Sourmash... nice picture, I see your lucky enough to be able to grow in a greenhouse. Ya, considering the feedback I've gotten, and since I have ordered seeds already, I think I'll plant straight clones and a couple preflowered clones and see if the preflowering does help them finish faster... if it does just slow the plants down I'll have the other plants to fall back on. I'll have to consider autoflowering next year... I'll let y'all know how things go. And *waves* across the Rockies to Sourmash.

Hi goats, if it's practical for you to build even a small PVC hoophouse/ greenhouse, you can very easily use darkening cloth to get around both the light problem and protect the kiddos from frost at both ends of the growing season.
Don't let the goats eat them!
:D

grow what the danish grow outdoors, the purps for example. don't be afraid to order seeds from seeds boutique ar anywhere in england, minimal risk.