Ready for Harvest? Also, couple questions...

Just wondering if these look ready to harvest? I'm a bit short on funds right now so I can't buy a 30x to check them up close and personal. They've been flowering for about 7 weeks now, started at 14/10 and now they are 12/12 (past 4 weeks).

Questions:

1. There is almost ZERO odor from any of the plants. Even when I get right up close I can't smell anything but fresh plant smell. What does that mean?

2. Before I harvest, should I put them into total darkness for 48 hours or is that just an old wives tale?

3. Only the top buds seem to be close to harvest. The plants are each about 4 feet tall and most of the base hasn't developed. Can I just cut the top foot or so off the plants and let the rest continue to flower?

4. If I do that, is it possible to switch them back into vegetative state, let them grow again, and then flower them later? If not, what is the best solution for getting the most out of the rest of the plant?

Thanks very much for any help!

you have about another good 4-6 weeks to go boss. they will smell good as they get close to harvest. with the time that your waiting read as much as you can on how to grow hell we all did.lol

let nature do the timing, you'll be glad you let it go for another 4 weeks, wait til the buds turn reddish brown, some say orange, then clip them, as for any other buds not yet ready, leave them another week
as soon as they are flowering it's pointless to reveg

yea definatly no where close to being ready. As to your second ? theres a lot of mixed reviews many growers speculate one way or the other. The best advice i can give is to try it yourself and form your own opinion because ultimately your gonna be making that call for yourself. For ? 3 yes you can harvest just the top buds. the rest will continue to grow but not forever you need to really watch the plant so you dont lose potency. and for revegging yes it is possible but it takes a long time the farther your plant is to harvest and it takes alot of patients and know how to keep a seriously traumatized plant alive.

funny, you still have 3 weeks at least... maybe even 5-6 lol

Wow, thanks for the input! I'll try and keep posting every few days to show the progress. This is only the 2nd grow I've done. First one turned out pretty well, but I guess I probably harvested that one too early also. The potency was "ok", but nothing amazing. That probably also explains why there isn't much smell yet.

Thanks so much for the replies from all the vets. I've actually read a lot on growing but I haven't quite mastered the finer things (like the art of determining when to harvest). I always thought as soon as about half the pistils turned orange-ish that it was done. Anyways, thanks for saving me the trouble of some sub-par weed.

grow, read, learn by trial and error

no worries man we were all in your shoes at one point or another. Glad we all could be of assistance