can i start in cold weather?

living near chicago, new grower, long time user, want to start as soon as possible. can i start outside if its still above 50 at night? I remember from the old days about germination, but after they germ can i plant out side, will they grow?

Maybe but probably not for too many reasons to list here.

Right now you could plant a seed outside, it would germinate. Were almost at 12/12 sun/night it's gonna wanna flower right away.
Your about 2 months behind schedule for planting outside. You'd have limited success planting outside right now.
unless you had an auto-flower or some other quick strain