When I harvest I wash my buds too. I get everything I'm gonna need for harvest, bucket of h202 & H20. 4 oz in a 5 gallon bucket is usually good for getting off dust and hairs and shit. You'd be surprised what you see floating in the bucket. You don't need to wash your buds, it's personal preference. Jorge Cervantes (a well know grower) has a youtube video how to wash your weed.
Next up I have my drying area set up. I use a C-stand with some extra arms on. I don't like to be too baked when I harvest, I don't want to get sidetracked. I like to take off all the leaf fans first, I don't keep them, but some people mix them into their topicals. I chop a branch and leave some length to hang/ handle them. Then I drop the branch in the bucket and let it soak for 30 sec to a minute. Swish it around a bit and get the h202 in those knooks.
Pull it out and let drip dry, shake it off, whatever...
Next... pull out your scissors and give that branch a gentle trim. You don't have to trim your colas, some people use the trim to make topicals too, but I usually mix flower in with my trim for stronger topicals & edibles.
Hang up the cola and repeat until the harvest is complete, your scissor hash is ready too! Now your buzzin' with accomplishment! Would you believe you can make tea from the wash water? No? Good, throw that wash out!
Once their drying you'll want to wait a couple of days and check dryness. This is where the art of the dry comes into play, my room is not yours and my buds don't dry the same way yours will. A safe way to check buds, and avoid mold, is the snap check. You bend the stem of your drying buds and if they snap then ready for jar. I've found this method lets the buds dry too much so I've started to jar around 3-4 days and then burp the jars religiously, until you're at the 62%rh. You can use Boveda Packs and/ or a little RH, Temp gizmo that goes in the jar too (face out so you can read it...). Once you're comfortable that your buds are stable then you leave'm sealed up for the cure.
I'll let you read up on the cure and such. That's my method but there are others. Some people dry in the fridge, it takes longer but supposedly the buds are better. Fridge method is the same idea just keeps the buds wet longer and is better. Fridge method for truly drying out buds will vary based on your weather too.
I always leaves a small popcorn, or 5, out for to dry fast for sampling samples and tasting the newest of the new!
I like to cure my buds for at least 2 weeks before I write up my strain/ smoke report.
7 weeks you say!!!! You can use a regular magnifying glass to check for amber.
Trichome Checking:
Clear - not ready
Mostly Cloudy - In the harvest window, as a rule buds will be more uplifting/ energetic.
10-20% Ambers - more stoney and zoney but not a zombie yet
25 - 100% Ambers - For me it just gets more stoney, zoney, and then couchlock.
Harvest times will vary from plant to plant depending on what affect you're wanting. Basically more amber is more sleepy.
No such as a case of the Moon-days around these parts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EDIT: I JUST FOUND THIS FROM
@Mr. Krip , He's a facet here on
@420magazine.
Mr.Krip Says:
"The word "snap" can be mis-leading. You want them stems to bend with a "snapping sound" but not "snap into two pieces" (break). Usually, I'm jarring too early, but that's easy to deal with. If the RH goes above 70% when you first jar, just remove the buds and put them in a paper bag or cardboard box overnight and try re-jarring the next day. Repeat, if necessary."
just 
she is looking very happy.
