Do plants need full sunlight all day? Balcony grow

Hello everyone. Just had a few questions. I planted a few seeds on august 9th and put them in a nice little box with 4*23 watt fluoros. They were doing nicely in the box but my old man insisted I put them outside on the balcony because he was scared of a potential fire hazard. The box was safe, but my dad is a bit of a worry warden. Anyhow, they have been growing decently outside. The problem is though that I live in an apartment and I lose direct sunlight at about 5:30 PM due to the vaulted roof blocking the rest of the sun. This gives me about 11 hours of sunlight a day. I am not really looking to pull much off these plants at all, I just like seeing weed grow and would appreciate any bud that I get. Just wondering if it is too late in the year to expect these plants to flower, especially with my lack of light later in the day. Also, although I can't run the box 24/7, it is no problem for me to supplement them in my small box for a few hours after the sun goes down. If I decide to use this method, how many hours should I supplement and how long so that I keep up with the flowering season here in southern California? This will only be useful up to a point though, as my box is too small for a larger plant. Thanks a lot everyone.

i had like 8 seedlings.took 5 of them in woods and kinda same prob.the seedlings that are in my house grew so much cause of constant light .the ones in woods since theres alot of tree cover ,they are so small from only getting like 4 hours of direct sun

Six to eight hours minimum direct sunlight for fat, dense, heavy, sticky buds.
You will be fine.

Planted august 9th? unless there autoflowers, or dwarfs. wouldnt it be a little late to throw them outside? they wouldnt reach maturity fast enough to start budding once your area hits 12/12. i could be wrong though. cause i had one since july first and its JUST gunna be mature enough to flower. like by a hairline but shes gonn be one big coala

Very late for outdoors. Not worth it. Plant will switch to flowering quickly, its August, and you'll get a small yield. When it comes to shade - if you lose only 3-4 hours of direct sunlight, you should be fine. Plants need at least 4 hours of direct uv and another 4 of indirect. Minimum.

11 hours of direct is plenty in my eyes. Some of mine get less than that.

Thanks for the replies guys. I really wanna grow a nice plant this year. I know it is late, but I'm pretty sure some clubs around here sell mature female plants. If I was to pick one up and then throw it outside, you think it would grow well enough/ yield decent? Thanks