Man, all this info is available for you on this site. There are alot of different opinions about these matters, so you shouldn't go based on mine alone. 2 days of dark won't hurt the plant, I did it to one last time, I have some before and after pics.
Before 72 hour dark period:
After 72 hour dark period:
I didn't really notice too much of a difference, but it certainly didn't hurt at all. I hung them to dry for about 5 days before I was ready to start curing them in jars, burping the jars a couple times a day for the first week, then once a day or so for a while after that...Just cause I was opening the jar to pull out some smoke every now and then. Drying time depends on the humidity in your area,and it varies, but you don't wanna dry them out TOO much. There are other people who explain this shit way better than I do, good luck bro!