Do you consider "seedling stage" to be separate from veg?

For years, my understanding was that, once the seed germinated and broke through the soil, it was in "vegetative stage". But, recently, I have listened to some discussions about exactly when vegetative stage starts. One person says that there is a separate "seedling stage" -which is defined by the fact that the cotyledon leaves are feeding the plant while it begins to develop a root system. Once the plant has put out a set of 5-blade leaves, it is to be assumed that the root system is developed and the plant is up and running and then STARTING the vegetative stage. Generally, let's say that it's 2 weeks before you get a plant with a set of 5-blade leaves...Okay, Do you then "deduct" those two weeks from your vegetative schedule? Let's say you want to do a 6-week veg....Is that really ~8 weeks if you separate it from the seedling stage?

I start counting from sprout.
It doesn't matter what you call it.........it's ready to flower when you decide it's ready.

I have frequently flipped to flower at 3 weeks from seed emerging from soil. The determining factor is whether they are large enough that I can take cuttings to clone before or soon after flipping.

Biologically I believe they are different, based on the plants growth and nutrient usage. I don't consider seedlings to be "vegging" until they have some real leaves, even sets of 3 are fine as long as they are pushing out real vegetative growth. I also don't count weeks for most things, I make my decisions based on the plants growth.

However, like Mick said it really doesn't matter when you start counting.

It's the same concept with the flower period. Biologically it doesn't start until the plant reaches the tipping point hormonally and begins to form flowers. But lots of people still count dates from when they flip to 12/12 because its easier for them.

The thing is that plants can't read calendars . All they can do is grow based on the environment and their genetics.

As soon as they sprout the seedlings are in veg..