Have you grown like this before straight into the ground? What height do your plants typically get to and how do they look at the end of the season? How's the yield?
I've had an 11 year break before last season's crop, but when I used to grow I would start them out in Solo cups, 4-6" and gallon pots then go into the ground when they were about a foot tall. I used to grow the bulk of my weed in trenches, say 6' X 4' with 4-6 plants per trench..I'd make 2-3 Z's per plant like that. These plants were not checked on too often, and were usually seeded.
I also grew a few single plant, big, wide holes that were tended to more. I've made up to 27 Z's off a plant {couldn't quite join the elbow club}, but most were in the 4-5 Z range. These were the plants I used to get a few seeds from select crosses..
I grew my plants according to the size of the cover. In young pines where the weeds are taller than the trees, a short wide plant is what you want. Lay the plant down and stake it off with pine limbs. {jab the pointy end in the ground, hooking a fork over the plant} As it grows up toward the sun, stake it down again. Some were 7-8' wide and 4-5' tall. In taller trees, you get taller plants. I would cut off all the lower limbs, and not top them until they were at least chest high.
These days my risk tolerance is much lower. I have so much more to lose, so I'm getting them out from the house and into the woods much sooner than I normally would. I sink the pots and hope the sun shines and the thunderstorms go to the north of me.
I do have some barns with electricity, so if the rain keeps cashing the seedlings, I may be forced to veg under lights for a week or two.