First time growing outdoors

These are 3 clones I got from a family friend, so no clue about the genetics beyond "gorilla glue". I grew them inside (where I had some thrip and pH issues delaying growth) for a bit over a month, and moved them outside May 30th. I topped once, and supercropped once before bringing them outside. During the first 2 weeks of being outside I did some LST to encourage lateral growth, and they took to becoming dense shrubs pretty well. For most of June I rarely had to water them; they got some rain and seemed to just sip the water. Starting about 2 weeks ago they got much thirstier, and I first had to do 3 gallons/plant every 2 days, and the last 3 waterings were 5 gal/plant and 2-3 days apart each time. Looking through previous outdoor growers reports, most in my area see flowers forming in mid August. October weather can be a real crap shoot where I live, so I light-proofed my shed and starting last night (Jul 19th) I'm moving them in there over night to give them 12 hours of dark. I'll do this for at least 3 weeks, but will likely continue until I hear of other locals with outdoor photos showing bud. The dolly I have to help move them has really small wheels which sucks for going over grass. Further complicating things, because of two narrow spots just a bit wider than the stake width I need to push the dolly rather than pull. Assuming that there isn't an early flower season that occurs, I've gained 2-3 weeks against October weather. Because of the narrow passages I mentioned, I decided to stake and support the girls, and needed to remove the lowest growth that was only growing outward, and too far outward at that. It's a bit sad; previously they were all ~36" wide, and now they're ~28. There's also some people asking for clones, so I'll likely take a few cuttings since flowering hasn't really started. I just wish I knew yesterday; I took off so much vegetation, especially from down below; I could easily have done the 15 clones I can handle in my setup.