First Time Grow!!! How am i doing?! Please give some advice on Flowering!!!

so i put my plant outside and its been 3 weeks now. She has grown quite a lot since then and has developed a lot of nice leaves and potential bud sites. I topped her twice! Once at the first node, and then once more when i first put her outside ( 6 times off of 6 nodes). Daylight in California is just past 12 hours. How much direct sunlight will she need to have her induce into producing buds? i have had her like i said for 3 weeks outside and no buds have formed. Right now the direct sunlight she gets is for about 6 hours and then the rest is in the shade while the sun is rising or it is past the tree's and setting.

So how much sunlight will she need? Is 6 hours to little for direct sunlight? when will i see her produce buds or balls if my plant is a male? Please help thanks

how big are we talking?