I guess as long as you are consistent with what you do, you will be able to come to some usable conclusions. I've never kept track of veg times. I give every plant how ever long it takes to get root bound to the point I like before flipping. There are a few exceptions to that but that's my general rule. Some plants have robust root systems while others take a little longer.
Doing the perpetual and trying to keep it on a good schedule is the main reason for the veg times. 60 days of vegging along with a week in seedling stage brings me close to 70 days. Sativa strains I veg for a shorter time due to height limitations in the tent. I am worried about how big this African Meltdown is going to be by the time I get ready to flip her. But for most hybrids or Indica leaning plants, that 60-70 day seedling and veg time generally gets the plant about the size I want.
If I have a plant that is slower growing or just isn't getting the size that I want, the timeline helps keep me on schedule. The plan works if I stick to it. The monkey wrenches come into play when I start taking clones LOL. Then I end up with the ripple effect. More plants than I planned effects the smoothness of how things run. Like right now, I have to hold everything in veg while I clear the backlog in flower. Well now the plants in veg are growing bigger than they would if I stuck to the 60-70 range which effects the number of plants that I can flower. Instead of flowering 5 or 6, I am only able to get 4 in there. That means my African Meltdown, Black Cherry Punch, and Hawaiian Mayan Gold are gonna be closer to 70-80 days in veg than the 60-70 range and that means bigger plants going into flower. And I am doomed to keep repeating the issue.
So in my mind, knowing I still want to play with clones AND have a nice variety of strains going at any given time (8 different strains currently), I will need to change my strain release a little better. Instead of dropping new strains every 2-3 weeks, I am thinking that one a month is probably more aligned to keeping me rolling along smoothly with the perpetual. That allows me to work clones and make crosses and feminized seeds from decent plants and still have decent variety AND maintain the schedule I want. It will likely lower my variety number to 6 different strains (and 6 clones of the strains)
This is where refining the veg time as it relates to the pot size for optimal yield as it relates to my schedule will really be beneficial. It might be better for me to run plants a little shorter than the 60-70 day range and in smaller pots than 10 gallons (5-8 gallons?) and be able to flower 5-6 plants at various phases of flower than to run 4 bigger plants in 10+ gallon plants while still exceeding my demand.
I am looking at everything from a number of days and number of slots perspective. I have 365 days in the year x 12 plants (my legal limit) as my capacity to stay legal. That means I have 4380 days of production capacity. Averaging 1 gram per day per plant means I produce about 155 ounces per year or 12.9 ounces (365 grams) per month. As long as what I keep producing, exceeds our usage then I can be selective about how we go about planning everything. And again, I am trying to figure out a way to maximize my production while being as easy on my back as possible.
Sure I could just grow fewer plants and grow them bigger and probably get more yield, but that isn't my end goal. Its the yield in as easy way possible. Growing in 15 gallon pots is fun but not real wise in my set up and probably not necessary with my production capacity vs meeting our needs. And its a pain in the back!
I may find out that for me.....I would be better off with growing in 7 gallon pots and vegging most plants around the 50 days. Sure my yields might suffer relative to a 2+ week longer veg time.....but I gotta think I am loosing capacity by trying to keep plants smaller while I deal with backlogs isn't really optimal.
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