Also is there anything I should be doing right now to make sure my plants turn out prime?
I am not a big outdoor expert but I have heard of some local growers who swear by harvesting according to the cycles of the moon. Can't remember the detail's but if you are curious you can google it.
Glad to hear you are already flushing, and one thing I have used with some luck is ice shocking the plant maybe 2-6 hours before harvest, never waited any longer but I suppose there is probably a sweet spot. Cold shocking is flushing with ice water,
in theory the shock causes the plant to go hardcore in it's attempt to produce it's only defense which are trichomes. I have done this a few times, and once I hit the sweet spot and one clone did not at all smoke like it's sister's. I need to perform that experiment again except isolate any variables and share my findings with the cannabis community... But cold shocking is an option.
And it doesn't affect the harvest quality but it can effect harvest experience... prepare a chop and a trim playlist. One of my favorites for the list is: [video=youtube;hQlCxE4z3u4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQlCxE4z3u4[/video]
Hoping for the best bud's brother looking forward to the chop! You should consider an html based countdown timer.
Oh and trichome color is a thing of taste, if I have never grown a strain before I prefer to harvest it in third's and record the resin degradation state (the color and cloudiness) and any other notes that just stand out such as aroma and so forth after the cure. Then when all is said and done you know when the best point to harvest is for the effect you wish to achieve. And purpz has a major point with light focus and bud development so halfing the plant maybe another option to consider.