Hey Godsend. I'm new to growing and about to harvest for the first time aswell, but heres some info I've gathered from this sight. 1. Are you growing indica or sativa dominant? Indicas have an average flowering time of 8-9 weeks, while sativas have an average flowering time of 11-12 weeks. 2. You want to flush your plants about 2 weeks before harvest. This will improve taste, smoothness of your final product because it flushes nutes from the soil that could affect the quality of your bud. Of course stop using nutes at this time, just plain water. 3. For the last 1-2 weeks before harvest, don't water your plants. This will allow for a quicker drying and curing time. 4. To tell when to harvest your crop, use a 30x microscope to exzamine the trichomes on your plant. Immature trichomes will be clear/transparent, while mature trichomes will be milky/cloudy/amber in color. Head high-milky/cloudy trichomes. Couch lock high- 30% or more amber trichomes. Hope this helps!