putting plants outside after being inside

if you give them too long of a dark period you'll cause it to go into flower, so jsut cognizant of that fact if using hours of light to introduce them to the power of the sun. shade it.. slowly expose to more light.. you'll know pretty quickyl if it;s having a problem.. it'll look like the saddest little plant you've ever seen -- all wilted and weak trying all it can to lessen the amount of light it is receiving. different regions have different intensity of sun as well as seasonal effects, so take soem notes and it'll be fairly consistent process each season relative for your region.

You need to harden them off for 3 days when bring them from indoors. First day bring the plant outside in a shady area for 4-6 hrs. Day 2 bring outside in a partial sunny area for 4-6 hrs. Day 3 put it out in a partial sunny area for 6-8 hrs. From then on the plant will be fine. There is no need to slowly lower the light down to 15/9. Just make sure where you live has daylight at least 14.5 hrs a day. If you are planning to top the plant do it a week before bring outdoors or at least a week after bring out doors. If you do as stated your plant will be very very good!

By May you should be OK in the northern hemisphere for hours of light, I wouldn't worry about stepping down before hand. You may wanna start them off in partial shade for a couple days before moving them into full sun.