ok so I want to make sure I know what to do when my plants are ready to harvest which will hopefully be in 3 or 4 weeks. I won't be harvesting early, I just want to be prepared when I do. I have a 60x light up magnifier for looking at crystals that I got from radio shack and from what I've read, the best time to harvest is when the crystals turn amber in color so that's what I'm shooting for. I've also read when around 80% of the hairs are red it's ready, is that roughly how they will look (80% red hairs) by the time the crystals turn amber?
I head something about a 24hr dark period before harvesting and I think I heard it's best to cut them with the lights out...is that correct and does a longer dark period prior to cutting help in any way (example: would a 48hr dark period prior to cutting be better??) Am I supposed to trim them in the dark also cuz that sounds difficult or I guess I could use my green party light I use for when the lights are out.
Going by what I've read, I'll be hang drying them in a dark room with a fan blowing to circulate air but not blowing air directly on the buds so they don't dry out too fast. And I'll be drying them until the stems almost snap and the buds are crispy (whatever that means, I hope I don't dry them too much!!). I'll be curing them in canning jars but that's where I don't know exactly what to do. I need to know how often I'm supposed to open the jars and how long I'm supposed to leave them open?? Obviously it will be more often when the buds first go in the jars but I need to know what schedule to go by or am I supposed to just go by how they look and how much moisture they've released??
I also have questions about flushing. I know I'm supposed to just fill my reservior with fresh water for the last week or so for my hydro plants but how do I flush the plants I have in soil??
any help with these questions or any other suggestions, advice or links to helpful threads about drying/curing would be greatly appreciated.