Northern Lights - Spring 2026 Indoor

[juliando]

Hi the 2 NL I grew were 12/12 from seed, one grew to 75cm a main cola and about 6 smaller ones. No training, other one about 50cm tall. Low odour in flower which is the reason I ordered them.
I have 3 seeds left. Will start one soon, top it and plant the top. But the first one will have maybe 6 weeks before I switch the lights. Maybe get a decent amount off it.

Looks like Ill get 1 good cola and 2 decent branches out of her, the others are tiny and not even really trying to reach. But she has a super strong skunk smell, which I expect to get stronger in flower (flip in a few days)
Different story for the other plant (true - she's under a different light and I bent her but...) She's acted very sativa (fast, lanky and stretchy) almost the whole time, has very little smell and has basically filled the tent. I only have the 2 plants going to judge by (3rd is very small still and doesn't really look like either of these two) but its more variation than I was expecting - I have like 9 more seeds that Ill start someday and I would expect (hope) to see more stout indicas in the bunch than lanky sativa.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Looks like Ill get 1 good cola and 2 decent branches out of her, the others are tiny and not even really trying to reach. But she has a super strong skunk smell, which I expect to get stronger in flower (flip in a few days)
Different story for the other plant (true - she's under a different light and I bent her but...) She's acted very sativa (fast, lanky and stretchy) almost the whole time, has very little smell and has basically filled the tent. I only have the 2 plants going to judge by (3rd is very small still and doesn't really look like either of these two) but its more variation than I was expecting - I have like 9 more seeds that Ill start someday and I would expect (hope) to see more stout indicas in the bunch than lanky sativa.

I'm sure NL is a cross of Afghan and Thai. Plus another strain. Afghan would be indica and Thai probably sativa, the seeds might not be too stable and favouring one side or the other.

 

[juliando]

1st week of flower, still stretchin - spread out and taking up the whole tent at this point. Using some wire hooks to move branches around and make sure theyre all getting light.
Shes developed a kinda fruity aroma but no real signs of flower yet.

 

[nowthenourkid]

They shouldn't have a strong skunky odour. Earthy pine smell is what they're known for.
I put a NL seed soaking yesterday. It's starting to open already.

 

[juliando]

Both flipped to flower now, first mixed feed last week - 1/4 dose Veg 20-5-20 + Bloom fert mix.
Good stretch for the oldest afghan-looking plant in the first week, had to move the light up.
One or two more lower branches making their way out of the canopy, finally.

And whether she should or shouldn't - she does stink up the whole house when I open the tent. A strong skunky, typical weed flavor.

Quickly running out of room in the other tent as well, soon Ill need to remove the hardware for the light and mount it directly to the pole to get it any further up.
She's finishing her 2nd week of flower, so no more Veg feeds - not that she needs any.

Tough to get a good picture, Ill have to pull her out of tent and get one under normal lights.
Much milder smell than the other, but building up.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Strong plants

 

[juliando]

Finishing the 2nd week of flower, little more stretch - mostly the lower branches spreading out (thankfully) Because the light is at max height now, so it'd be great if she stopped real soon.
But, gettin right to it - plenty of pistils forming, and stronger smell everyday. Great looking plant, if Id had any room left anywhere Id have taken some clones and kept her going. Im already backed up with other strains to chase at the moment, but I do have that pollen in the fridge...I may give her a little dose, get a few new seeds to play with later.
No more Veg, first full flower feed - Organic Bloom/Fox Farms Big Bloom mix

 

[juliando]

This fricken thing will not stop. She's been on 12/12 for a month now, she's grown like 150% and is still not showing any sign of flower. Ive bent her every which way with wire trying to keep her off the light - but she's filled the tent so its tough.
Not sure what to do with her, I could trim if she'd ever go to flower...That was the plan anyway
If this keeps up, I may have to pop some more seeds - try to find another short, stinky Indica.

 

[juliando]

Disaster? Turns out the 300w light lost about 1/3 of her LEDs at some point. Not sure when - thought maybe it looked a little dark...Maybe a sudden drop in power might account for some of the later stretchiness? Or slow move to flower?

Anyway, had to switch the light back to my A100 Aero - so, perfect (and necessary) time to do a major re-sculpting. She's probably done a 200% stretch - doubled over completely now and Ive arranged all the lower branches around in a sort of crown (lots of wire) at a good height for the new light. She's finally showing some pistils after more than a month of flowering, so I hate to stress her out but had to be done. If she keeps flowering Ill trim out some of the smaller branches that have sort of faded due to the lower light levels at the bottom.

But, the oldest plant - the "Golden Child" continues to impress. She's looking and smelling great for 3 weeks 12/12...Shaping up, stretched out some lower branches and is in full flower. Seems like she's stopped just short of the light with a few inches to spare - looks ok for now, lets hope she's done.

 

[Galgrows]

Bummer about the old blurple light. I gave mine away had 2 before i got my Qboard LED. Treat yourself to a new LED much cooler running during summer. Or maybe it's winter where your at??

 

[juliando]

Bummer about the old blurple light. I gave mine away had 2 before i got my Qboard LED. Treat yourself to a new LED much cooler running during summer. Or maybe it's winter where your at??

Summertime here. I think my vent fan and filter are somewhat oversized, so I don't usually have any high temperature problems.

I bought a cheap digital temp/humidity controller for the fan system one time, but the thing turned out to be so impossibly complicated to program I gave up. Psyching myself up to give it another try someday.

That light was pretty old at this point, got a lot of years out of it - and it was also cheap chinese amazon buy to begin with, like the controller.

I may go up to 150 or 200w if I get a new light. Something like the vivosun Aerolight wing, they're only 2x2x4 but I think they can handle it.

 

[juliando]

No end to the issues indoors (this one tent at least, the other has been great) - between the unexpected genetics and massive flower stretch, the light failure and now pests.
I did a thorough cleaning/bleaching before starting the grow, and an early preventative treatment with Arber on both plants in Veg.
But I guess I couldn't see what was happening with the Blurple light - and the mites returned.

Strangely, for now at least - the other tent looks OK...which is good because she's too far into flower to treat now.

But...
Maybe I couldn't hit everything with the bleach spray? This is the tent with the Vent fan in it - could be inside the fan or filter I guess.
Maybe I just brought them in with the soil?
Either way, caught it just it time (hopefully) She's just starting full flower now, so I was finally able to give her a trim - remove the worst and give her a set of treatments.

She's been through the wringer with all the bending, light swap and now trim and treatment. Fingers crossed...

First month of flower for the the oldest plant. Still reaching a bit, nothing like the other plant but getting a little close to the light now.
Buds are really filling out, looks like the top will end up being a nice foot long Cola - some decent lower branches as well.
Smelling stronger everyday, really testing the carbon filter now (may need to be replaced)

She's maturing fast, hoping she's about halfway done for 8-9 weeks total flower - could be race to the finish with the mites if they get into this tent.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Looking lovely. Maybe some sticky pads or Flypaper would catch the insects.

 

[juliando]

So, an eventful couple weeks...Indoors and out.

Inside the tents -
I had to give up on that out of control sativa. After all that bending and everything it finally went to flower but didn't have enough structure to produce anything worth saving from the spider mites. So after a few treatments I just gave up on her and kicked her out rather than further risk the other tent, which is still looking OK for now.

The remaining indoor plant is at 6 weeks flower and maturing nicely, still looking and smelling amazing.
She ended up touching the light and burning the very top of her cola - I didn't want to risk a rot so I clipped a little, but seems like she's already recovered. Buds have filled out and some pistils are turning over the last few weeks.

Could be 2-3 weeks away from finishing up.

 

[juliando]

The oldest plant and only remaining indoors (until I can do a super duper deep clean) is at 12 weeks now.

My original hopes for 4/8 - 12 week grow weren't far off, but they were off. Although a 5/7 could still be possible in the future...Always the optimist.
Its definitely gonna be 13-14 weeks, 6/7-8 but that's still pretty good.

She did end up with a number of side branches with one decent bud each, but not much else below the canopy.
I used a bit of my stored pollen one of them, sometime around July 4th - so Ill have a few more seeds to play around with.
They should be just about finished forming...Not that I need any more seeds right now, I have too many projects built up and very limited room.
But I just got a vacuum seed storage system for the fridge - so I feel like its OK.

Still majority white pistils, but hope for more red in this 7th week.

The cola is plump as hell now...Big ole Honker

She got 6 weeks in Veg, probably should've stopped at 5 but I am forever underestimating the flowering stretch. So she's currently sitting right up against the light - thankfully, mostly in a sort of dead spot in the middle where there's no LEDs so the burning is minimal.

And 6 in Flower, so far...In the meantime, shes gettin fatter everyday, so Ill definitely try to wait for that thickening to stop before I harvest.
But even in a tent, a big fat bud like that can rot - so Ill just have to see.

I got a good look around (couldn't get too many good pics) but the Trich's look like they're nearly there (for how I like my bud - I don't usually wait for all amber)
You can sort of see (lol) - some clear but mostly cloudy and a few amber. So I guess, "technically" I could harvest right now if I needed to.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Looking good. If it was me, I'd leave her another week or two. Checking every day. But I'm an evening smoker. The main cola is impressive.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Hi Juliando
My NL, topped her a few days ago, didn't bother her, 2 top bud sites sprung out nicely. Switched to 12/12 just now. The smaller plant is a bubba kush. Would like to veg her for another 2 weeks but only one grow room. The 2 cuttings in the back yard. Very little sun. Must organise a tiny veg room in a wardrobe soon. Will make things easier.

 

[juliando]

Hi Juliando
My NL, topped her a few days ago, didn't bother her, 2 top bud sites sprung out nicely. Switched to 12/12 just now. The smaller plant is a bubba kush. Would like to veg her for another 2 weeks but only one grow room. The 2 cuttings in the back yard. Very little sun. Must organise a tiny veg room in a wardrobe soon. Will make things easier.

Nice...How many weeks is the NL? How tall? And what's your tent height? Im curious to hear how the flowering goes, my experiences have varied so far.

Trying to speed up my own grows - Ive found the bottleneck happens in the flower tent, as that's like 2-3 times longer than veg.
And I really need to do a deep clean on everything in between grows, which is hard to do around a giant plants.
So, best I can do at a "continuous" grow is to run the veg tent 5 weeks on 5 weeks off. But Ive found (usually, when nothing goes wrong) 2 at a time is fine, and gives me a chance to break both tents down and clean - something Im very much looking forward to right now.

And if you think about it as - Time to finish (TTF) 4 plants. The staggered start time really adds up.
2 at a time - 2 tents 1 in each - TTF 30 weeks at most.
Staggered start rotation - Veg tent 5 weeks on 5 weeks off - TTF 4 plants 45 weeks!

So, after the first full 15 week harvest, you get the next 3 finished plants at 10 weeks each - but total time is much longer in the long run. And I can't smoke much faster anyway...And that's all assuming that all plants veg and finish on the same schedule for the same lengths of time, which is never the case.

 

[nowthenourkid]

Hi
It's not a tent it's my understairs cupboard. Cieling is at the angle of the stairs. I have run it 12/12 before. but you don't get much off each plant. I have thought of doing that again as a continuous grow, starting a seed every month.
Another idea is to have a tiny veg room to put cuttings in, when they get to 50cm put them in the 12/12 grow room, after taking a cutting and putting that in the veg room. Which would be in my wardrobe with a single grow bulb and no extraction or fan.

 

[nowthenourkid]

The NL is 41cm and the BK is 28cm
Both in great shape.