Howzit?
Lacking talent and having 2. black, thumbs I need tools for a successful harvest.
I weigh my girls with a postal scale. It tells me when, and how much to water.
An ounce of pest prevention beats chemical pollution of the buds. so I use as much prevention as I can.
Timing for flowering, and for harvesting are judgement calls using several indicators.
Scent is an excellent "tell" but requires experience.
The color and general appearance of the pistils and trichomes is helpful, as is the appearance of the main stem.
Even then, it's better to do a staggered harvest to get several variation of potency, medical effect, and side effects, from each plant.
Curing is easy with the proper tools.
I put one RH meter in the curing jar and another outside the jar. When the RH is >70% I leave them hanging.
If the ambient RH drops, I check for dryness by holding a bud, mid-stem and rotating the stem back and forth. If the bud snaps off clean, it's jar time.
If it "pulls a string", I hang it for a while longer.
I watch the meter in the jar and outside the jar to know when "burping" is indicated.
Then aim for ~59% humidity before storing.
I keep the jar in a cool, dark, place for a month or so before use.
For long term storage the jar is kept in a freezer to slow the decarb and CBN conversion.
It should be obvious by now that there are few, "cut and dried" answers to your survey approach.
Your best bet would be to read through the grow logs of the best growers on these site to see what they do. Then ask them why, yah?
And for real understanding, spend a few years growing your own. :)
Aloha,
Wee 'zard
Best of luck with it