I did some SSH @ 12/12 from seed before. Even under a 600 watt it took over a month before a single pistol shot out.
And...lots of us have grown thousands of plants and grown them quite well.
I have for over 30 years. admittedly for the first 10 it was less than stellar. Back then, there were no collectives, or seedbanks, mostly bag seed and trial and error. Alot was learned, and most of this is now the basis for alot of what is found on the internet today. What we oldtimers tried, whether it worked or not.
Seamaiden and Erudite have certainly called it right, from seed it takes considerably longer to enter into the bud stage, than from clone.
Never forget that buds are the plants efforts to send out further generations from the combination of mom and dad. That is why the light cycle is reduced...we are mimiking nature to trick the plant that its life is coming to an end. That is why it makes seeds/buds....for the future of its species.
A plant from seed has a very difficult time, in that as soon as it is germinated, we tell it that it is time to finish its life and to send out seeds/buds. All life needs time to become sexually mature before it makes offspring.