Next year outdoor grow

So next year im planning a semi- big operation. I plan on starting pretty early cause i want my ladies to be large as possible. What do you think would be the earliest time to put my girls outdoors i live in northern California. And should i grow them in pots before moving to in ground or should i start straight in the ground? i plan on using advanced nutrients to get them going and then letting them go organic till haravest wear i will give them what they need to produce pounds. My spot gets light most of the day and is very safe so i dont have to worrie about thieves. Im so stoked i cant waht for spring to come around.

first of all, best of luck for when you do it
i cant answer all your questions though im sure someone will be able to
but just one thing, if you start them off indoors and get them past the shitty seedling stage befoer you put them out then they will be ready to go crazy
even better if you can veg them indoors for a couple of months you could end up with some monsters

after the last frosts of winter have past you can usually chuck your plants outdoors but they need to be strong enoguh to cope out there.
oh and yeah start them in the pots first before chuckin them in the ground
best of luck

well I dont know what the weather is there?
but I would say its better then Canada, So like april?

start them in pots and put them out as much as possible..... like day time out , night time in. Protect them from those late frosts. This way they'll be very strong plants by the time you can keep them out. At this point I put mine into 5 gal or bigger containers till harvest. Good luck.

when you know spring is approching, you should harden them off by putting them out for a few hours a day...maybe like 3-5 hours. then bring them back inside, like Tomt stated. you dont want to just go and plant them outside without them getting used to the outdoors. last year i made the mistake of putting all my plants outdoors without hardening them off first, and out of a hundred plants, i ended up loosing close to fifty.