MUST I force flower?

I live in the British Columbia interior, and have my medical card so I can grown 15 plants legally for my condition. I will be growing outdoors, but the problem I have encountered is that where I live, we get blazing hot summers, but winter also arrives very quickly.

When I have grown outdoors, my plants get huge, but by the time the natural light cycle switches to 12/12, it's starting to get quite cold. The plants don't seem to have enough time to flower before frost hits and I only have small buds by harvest time.

Natural 12/12 light happens near the end of September, and only one month later (end of October) we're already getting temperatures close to freezing.

How can I grow outdoors in my area and still get high yields, without resorting to auto flowering plants, and without having to force flower - it simply isn't possible for me to cover to my plants each day.

Will my plants naturally start to go into flower as soon as they notice the days getting shorter, or does it really take until the days are 12/12 before they will start to flower.

Thanks for your advice

Doesn't anyone have any input here?

It doesnt have to be exactly 12/12 before the plants start flowering. What you could do is force flower will take about two weeks then go from there when the light starts going down in your area. dirrtyd

every strain is different, you should buy strains bred for Canada that bloom & finish earlier.
and no you don't need 12/12 less than 16 hours daylight MAY be enough to start flowering.

My primary concerns are using strains that will help alleviate my symptoms (stomach pain, nausea, appetite loss) so I am having trouble honing in on strains that are good for these symptoms AND bred for the short norther growing season.

Can anyone point me in the direction of such strains?

man i think you would be fine with an auto flower whay u want to turn from then thats what they are made for then u can recive a full yeald in 2-3 mo of summer, Or veg all winter in-home at 24-7 then when you transplant them to summer hours they will feel the big reduction in light and start to bloom. By vegging for that long durring winter your plants will be bigger than you have thought possible by the 2-3 months outside. I grow my 12 plants in home my veg room runs 24-7 lights on, it works great no timer or ne thing. is it not possible to devote a 5/5 foot area of your living space cuz thats all the bigger my room is and i bloom 12 plants and could easly do 15 if my laws would alow.

Then man skys the limit for the strain you want

So if I vegged my plants of choice under 24 hours of light indoors, and then move them outdoors around the 1st of June, they would flower due to drastic reduction in light?

Would this work even though I'm getting roughly 15 1/2 hours of sunlight a day?

are you aware there is a medical despensary in Vancouver that will do mail order sales to people with a card ? They are very reasonably priced too. They could advise you on what strains you need maybe.
http://www.cannabisdispensary.ca/