I have a buddy that grew with just water start to finish. Puny little buggers, but he proved the point, it works just fine.
If it's half and half, I would chop'em down. When they get too amber it fuckin' kills me. My favorite line becomes "give me a little bit, I'm not moving too quick right now". I don't really like that type of high as much.
Then again, I chopped early once when it was all cloudy thinking I would like that and it FUCKED my head up. I would smoke, then get a fuckin' rush straight to the head and get all paranoid and shit. That 50/50 mix is key for me. My last batch was the early picken's and that shit while it was extremely potent was just too cerebral. Not in that laughing, smiling kinda good way, but in more of a "woah, I'm fuckin' ripped and need a minute" kinda way.
From my experience (which is limited, so take it with a grain of salt), Sativa's picked at the right time give me the "up" sort of high I am looking for and Indica's picked at the right time give me the "net flix night" kind of high that I also enjoy.
Sativa's plucked early will just fuck with your head as will Indica's and picked late they both just give an awful body high where you can't feel your toes and you get really tired and it's just shitty.
Grow the strain that gives you the high that you like when picked at the right time. Fucking with the harvest time seems to fuck it all up.