Of that 8 weeks, how much of that time includes germination/seedling stages? 8 weeks seems a little long for a veg phase, here's the schedule I usually follow:
Germination: 2-3 days
Seedling: 1 week
Veg Growth: 1 week
Agressive Veg Growth: 3 weeks
Transition: 1 week
Agressive Bloom: 4 weeks
Ripen/Flush: 1 week
Harvest
So I stay about 5 weeks in veg, but I also grow DWC and it looks like you're in soil so expect differences. Really, one of the most important factors is how tall your grow area is. MJ plants can double or even triple in height once they hit flowering, so one rule of thumb some growers use is to force flowering once the plant is 1/3 to 1/2 the desired harvest height.
Assuming you're at a point where it's time to start flowering, you need to ask yourself if you're going to take clones or not. For simplicity I'll assume you're not, but if you are (and I recommend it) shoot me a PM or search the forums to see what steps you need to do. ANYWAY. Next steps for you are:
FLOWERING
Light - Decrease light from 18/6 to 12/12. Plants think the days are shorter, hence time to flower
- Switch from mostly 6500k lights to 2700k lights
- More lights. If you have em, turn em on. If not, good idea to get some side reflectors. 46-64watt CFLs are cheap and work well as side reflectors.
Humidity - Decrease to <50%, less is better
Air - Increase circulation (a nice small fan will work, don't blow your plants apart with gale force winds.)
Sex - Depending on strain, plants should start showing sex within 2 weeks. Remove males. I recommend not trying to force sexing before flowering; you increase the chance of stressing your plant into a hermaphrodite.
Nutrients - Switch from veg nutes to bloom nutes (decrease nitrogen, increase phosphorous.)
Wait - I have a short bloom period because my grow cabinet has a low ceiling. I bloom for 6 compared to Roseman, who blooms 8-9 weeks. The best way to know when to harvest is by looking at the trichromes through a magnifying glass, loupe, or something similar. In the current High Times, it actually says that contrary to popular belief, new research shows THC is highest when the trichromes are clear, not opaque or amber. Some professional growers now harvest at the first sign of opaque trichromes, compared to the old method of waiting for ~50% of the trichromes to turn amber. I'll spare you the science, but there is about a 1 week window of optimal harvest time. Harvesting early in that period usually results in a lighter head high; harvesting later (more CBN and CBD) generally provides a heavier, lazier couch high.
Harvest - ~1 week before harvest, its time to start flushing. When I was growing in soil I would flush my plants in the bathtub twice a day with distilled water, NO NUTES. You want to give the plant time to get rid of all the nutes in the soil so you don't end up with chemical tasting bud. ~2 days before harvest, it's time to stop watering. Not only will this stress the plant into more resin production, it also makes the plant easier to dry after harvest. At harvest, chop your plants at the base, or individual stems, throw away all the soil roots, and CLEAN EVERYTHING to prepare for the next grow. You don't want any residual bacteria/critters waiting for your next crop.
Manicuring/Drying/Curing - NOT TIME TO SMOKE YET! It's easier to manicure bud when it's wet I find. Grab some scissors and start cutting the leaves off the buds and stems. I would save these to grind/screen/filter for hash later. How much leaf is left on the bud is your preference; more leaf usually = rougher smoke. Everyone has their own method of drying, the most common being hanging the stems or laying the buds out on screens. This takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks. The key is you want ample time for the bud to dry and the chlorophyll to degrade. Weed with chlorophyll tastes like wet grass. You know it's about the right dryness when you bend the stem and it cracks, but doesn't break. I usually cut the buds off the stems to dry so I don't have to wait for the moisture in the stem to evaporate. When drying, you want darkness, low humidity and air circulation to prevent mold growing on your hard earned buds. When they're dried enough, it's time to cure. Grab some airtight glass jars and fill em up; I find if you only have a few buds in a big jar it dries them out too much. Every day or two, open your jars and let them air out for an hour or two before closing them again. Curing takes the moisture deep inside the bud and redistributes it evenly, ensuring a nice smooth smoke. Curing is usually as short as 2 weeks or as long as 1 month+.
SMOKE - Grab your favorite piece/wrap/paper and light it up! According to cannabis cup judge Jorge Cervantes, the best way to judge a bud's quality is a simple glass pipe.
Cheers, I hope this helped.
