Light cycle thoughts

In late March, I started some plants indoors for outdoor growing. I used the regular 18/6 light schedule. They were put outside early May. Lo and behold, some started flowering. Looking back at daylight hrs for May, I find daylight was less than 14 hrs the first few weeks of May only getting to 14 in the 3rd week or so. Additionally, it was overcast to boot and night temps dipped into to 40s. To be honest, it didn't occur to me about day length. My questions concern minimum day lengths to look for before moving outside, would starting indoors under a shorter light schedule help with the issue? Say 14,15,16 on? It seems that going from 18 on to <14 plus cool temps is a recipe for triggering. Thanks.

Going back to 18/6 until the summer months shouldn't hurt. It will just let the plant know it's veg season not flower

your going to have some lovely plants growing outside, wish i had that wether here in the uk.
no it wont hurt, they will super crop. kudos for growing outside

Preferably, you want to wait until summer solstice June 21. Days are getting shorter from then on. From December 21 until then, days are getting longer. If you're starting inside, run the whole veg stage indoors and move outdoors to initiate flowering. Takes about two weeks before any signs of flowering.18/6 for veg, 4 weeks or more. Then move outdoors after June 21, should flower normally. No high humidity or excessive water on buds, let dirt dry between waterings.