I'm at 40 degrees. I germinate them indoors but I don't have any real indoor lights so they go out on my deck in April/May. I put them in the ground by June 1st. This is my 7th grow. All my plants are doing very well this year. She wasn't the biggest but had a great Christmas tree shape so I let her go natural. I wanted to compare yields with the plants that were
She is starting to bud up and showing she will bud up fully. I expect to get over a pound from her. I will get more from that one that I did from all my plants last year after severe Spring floods killed and stunted most of my crop (they are planted on low ground).
Wrt how she got so big, I think the mulching did the most. I put 6 inches of alfalfa hay down on my main spot last fall and added more in the spring. I've been mulching (the Ruth Stout system) this same spot for three years and at this point the soil is awesome. I've had a few 8-9 footers in years past but she is far and away the biggest one I've had. If I hadn't LST and topped, I think most of the others would have grown almost as tall, maybe taller this year. Even with LST, most of the others are over 6'