VEG. phase tips plz!

So my buba Kush tree is growing i had gotten it when it was about 1 foot 4 inches. its about 1 foot 8 inches and i have had it for about 1 week and im not sure on the age of the plant and need to know when i should start the light cycle 12/12 because i have it on 18/6. its giving off a strong dank smell and i wanna know when i should start the flowering stage. i also water it about every 2 days and to find if it need water i put my finger in the coco coir about 1 inch and if dry i water but lately its been drying up fast any clue?

dries faster cuz its getting bigger and uses it faster.

you can go 12/12 whenever you want.....comes down to the space you have and the lights you have and how big you want it to be

its going to double or triple in size once it flowers

Let the whole pot dry out before you water. This pulls fresh oxygen into the soil and makes it available to the roots. If you keep the roots wet ... yeesh ... you are risking root rot. Pick up the pot with your hands - if it feels really light, then you need to water it.

Overwatering marijuana is a very common noobie mistake.

But you asked about vegging ....

I cannot afford to veg for too long becuse the growing season in Arizona is fairly short. Flowering needs to start in March because it gets so hot here by the end of May (I grow in an un-air conditioned boathouse). Once It gets to 95 degrees in the grow room - that's the end of the grow. So this means that I have to start flowering as soon as possible.

I agree with some internet advice I once read that for marijuana, the sprouting phase lasts until the first five fingered leave appears, then the plant grows towards maturity until there are three sets of fully formed five fingered leaves - this is the end of the vegetative phase, and time to begin flowering. Notice that for the three sets of five fingered leaves, each leaf stalk is symmetrical with the one on the opposite side. A "mature" plants, supposedly, will start growing non-symmetrical leaves.

Lastly, some people believe in vegging the plant as long as possible because they think it improves cannabinoid development, but ... I don't know about that.

I once had to to start flowering some Durban Poison three weeks after germination - the buds were small ofcourse, but it was still pretty stony weed.

this is my bubba kush now by looking at it can yu tell me if its healthy or good enough to flower? its about 2 feet high and the base is about 1 cm less than my thumb

Definitely ready to flower

Ready to flower! ►IMO I'd double the pot size if you want a bigger yield.

That baby is about to get a lot bigger in flower. Get a bigger pot as soon as it needs watering every day. Also you could consider LST/topping to control your grow. Certainly not too late to do either/both.

You're good to go, just remember to phase it into 12/12, going right in wont really hurt it bad but always better to play it safe, as for LST in my opinion it's pretty big and gonna be hard to bend, if you want to hinder its height for one reason or another you should top it at least a few days before you start to switch up the lights