A photoperiod plant can go into flower anytime it receives a long enough, uninterrupted dark cycle. The exact length varies per plant to some extent. Generally 10+ hours is what you need. Maybe, some oddball needs less? some definitely need more than 10h. ~12 hours is used indoors because it covers all the bases. Outdoors, you may get a range of time in which plants flip to flower, and that is on top of variances in overall flower length.
Preflowers will grow on a sexually mature plant even before you get to flower. So, if it's just a single calyx forming at the base of each branch, no worries.
i'm assuming you live in a similar lattitude as me, but that may not be the case.. if your longest day of the year is in june, probably safe to say you are not in flower, yet.
you can see preflowers pretty early, but usually 6-8 weeks old you'll see them even if in vege phase. As long as you don't see tufts of white haris forming at terminal buds and each node, you are fine.