Let's talk about Northern Lights!

[angelgoob]

My experience not growing, but simply getting high is that it is supposed to be indica, but has a sativa high.

I must try it again, such a clear, almost shroom-like high.

 

[Illuminate]

And a nice hazy indica taste... never grown it but heard good things from back in day. Is it still as reliable?

 

[Lester Beans]

I have always experienced Northern Lights as an indica, both in growth and effect. From NL to NL#5, always a potent indica.

I'm not sure you were smoking pure NL or a hybrid, but clear and schroom like is certainly not how I would describe NL. More like red eyed couch pilot.

Great strain if you can find it these days.

 

[Dirt Life]

NL is a solid body high... I get nice head melty kind of high, but the majority is all physical couch lock. I have an NL hybrid with more of a head high than pure NL and she still knocks me out..

On the other hand, I have phound phenos that were definately leaning to a tall leggy nld side, and their highs were definately more in the head but still had a major lethargic effect, and the head was definately not clear and soaring, more like strong and racy/speedy, so, I can see where op is coming from... Should also be noted any seeds I personally grew were simply named Northern Lights, never getting into detail about which NL, so Im assumimg its NL5, or some NL(?)xNL(?) hybrid..

 

[igrowone]

so many experiences on this classic
mine was a #5 from seed, a slow ripener which is a little off from the classic description
but it had both effects
the beginning was like being strapped to a solid fuel booster, very strong head rush
but after a half hour, a sweet and long lasting indica feel, the head rush was a little too strong for comfort imho

 

[birde]

Nl#5 yes,happy memories. (Well, be over soon!)lol
Coming back over the snake pass on route from Sheffield!
WhuuU felt like ya floating in the car ! ... Airplane mode!!!
& the Incrediably BASS'Y trance music.
"Another Dimension " ...

 

[Jwilly]

NL #5 is said to be east Indian Afghan x thai while the rest are suppose to be pure indica or indica dominant hybrids most likely with the same mother with different males equals #1 #2 #5 etc. Depending on witch line you run you could find deep berry flavors, to very light smelling plants . Said to be One of the first plants created for indoor grows for the maximum yield . All talk from different forums and such all he or she said nothing proven by any means -peace

 

[igrowone]

NL #5 is said to be east Indian Afghan x thai ...

i have seen the thai mentioned, and sounds quite possible from my limited experience
the east indian afghan, that's new to me, interesting

 

[Lester Beans]

We grew NL #5 that smelled of coffee. It was an east coast line called the Mark V. Or Mark 5. It was a NL selection from seed in the late 80's.

There were several different phenos back then in our seed line. Flavors ranged from coffee to nutty to old school funk kind bud. Never once found berry flavors. The coffee line was the green phenos and all other flavors were purple plants.

These seeds came from Toronto in the mid 80's.

Short plant, 2-2-5 feet tall, very little stretch, robust branches, hollow stems, heavey feeder, Christmas tree like habit, rock solid nugs. Very little smell in flower unless disturbed. Final product was dark green nuggets that looked to be covered in yellow sugar like the wife uses on Christmas cookies.

Last time I saw anything close was Florida 2006 in Ft. Lauderdale. Coconut creek to be exact.

Someone out there has it I'm sure. Hopefully legalization will allow clones to reveal themselves and be spread far and wide.

 

[soundman]

Maybe Ill do a grow diary.

I am currently running my two favorites from the past.

A BCSC NL5 from 95 or 96 I selfed in 2004. This plant would be an s1 from my favorite plant out of years of controlled pollination. Took over 50 beans to get one to crack.

The other a s1 seed found and made s2'a from 2007ish OG squared from cornertone research disp. in Eagle Rock CA.

Both have super potential.

Back to the Nl5, no mistaking its old school smell. takes me straight back to the late eighties to mid 90's. I had my version so stable all seeds looked like clones of each other.

 

[Dirt Life]

Well, according to Elmer Bud here, who heard (and has posted convo) from Seattle Greg, its Hawaiian that was used in the NL#5... Course, could very well be a thai from hawaii...

 

[igrowone]

Well, according to Elmer Bud here, who heard (and has posted convo) from Seattle Greg, its Hawaiian that was used in the NL#5... Course, could very well be a thai from hawaii...

yeah, seattle greg seems to be the best documented source on this topic
then again i see other stories, damned if i know for sure

 

[Dirt Life]

^lol, srsly... stories are fun, though.
Huh, I wonder if that "east indian afghani" is derived from that "Neville got NL from the 'indian'" story.. Too bad Foe20 still wasnt.around, that dude had hella experience with BCSC NL#5, probably still could find some threads/posts from him about it.

 

[igrowone]

^lol, srsly... stories are fun, though.
Huh, I wonder if that "east indian afghani" is derived from that "Neville got NL from the 'indian'" story.. Too bad Foe20 still wasnt.around, that dude had hella experience with BCSC NL#5, probably still could find some threads/posts from him about it.

i think afgham genetics being in there is a pretty safe bet, dense buds in quantity is universal in all descriptions
one interesting thing i saw in my 1 pheno of the #5, which of course may not mean much
it had trichomes that would not cloud up, they would slowly get a yellow tinge
not brown, it took a looong time for that pheno to show brown trichs
a poster mentioned this can be seen in some tropical sativas
so the genetics in what i grew still have my interest

 

[troutman]

I grew NL# 5 from the BCSC in the late 90's and like it.

https://www.icmag.com/modules/ICStrainguide/index.php?eop=breeder&id=11

I also grew Sensi's NL about 9 years ago.

They were both nice plants.

 

[Dirt Life]

i think afgham genetics being in there is a pretty safe bet, dense buds in quantity is universal in all descriptions
one interesting thing i saw in my 1 pheno of the #5, which of course may not mean much
it had trichomes that would not cloud up, they would slowly get a yellow tinge
not brown, it took a looong time for that pheno to show brown trichs
a poster mentioned this can be seen in some tropical sativas
so the genetics in what i grew still have my interest

Oh yeah, afghan definately, but I meant the "east indian" part of the afghan Jwilly posted.. never heard that before. Was the NL you ran from Nirvana by any chance igrowone?

 

[igrowone]

Oh yeah, afghan definately, but I meant the "east indian" part of the afghan Jwilly posted.. never heard that before. Was the NL you ran from Nirvana by any chance igrowone?

no, from high grade seeds who used to be a good source
i don't think his site is trustable any more, but he used to have some good genetics
i suspect what i ran were F2's that high grade made from BCSC genetics
my experience was dead on with old BCSC smoke reports

 

[newbert]

the northern lights ive had access to has been a soft lemony piney hashy smell which translates into a citrus menthol kinda smoke. mentally gets you introspective, slightly mentally invigorating with solid body relaxation; droopy eyes, slightly "heavier" body feel. can still smoke during the day but at the same time after a few sessions youll be looking for bed.

 

[GoatCheese]

Here's some posts (hacked into one) by NL Seattle Greg, the guy who sold/gave the seeds of different NL-lines to Nevil

Aloha,

The base plants for the entire Seattle Northern Lights strains 1 to 10 was a batch of seed sent from Afghanistan that ended up in Herbie's employers hands who just happened to be an old friend from High School so I was able to get four seeds. Then I started doing seed crops of the pure Indica and crossing it with other strains from Nepal, Mexico, and Columbia.

I had clones and seed and NL#5 was Hawaiian x Steve Murphy's Afghani Strain that is what I sent to Nevil. Steve Murphy owned The Indoor Sun Shoppe in Seattle. NL #5 was a F1 hybrid in 1982.

Northern lights # 1 was Nevils Afghani crossed with the Seattle Afghan strain form Steve Murphy.

I have been breeding since 1970 and he got NL from me. I sent seed to Ben and Kees at Sensi too for giving me the nutrient formula for Grodan and Seattle water.

The 11 strains were graded by height and flavor for indoor growing. The #1 was a short phenotype pure Indica from Afghanistan as was #2,3, & 4. #5 to #11 were the Hybrids with the narrow leaved strains we worked with.

The 11 packets of seed Nevil received were graded the #1 ,2, 3, were 100% indica, #5 the clone I traded Herbie Nelson for was 50% Afghani & 50% Hawaiian sativa. The others #6-#11 were crosses with Columbian, Thai, and Mexican Sativas. Nevil then sold out to Ben, became partners with Arjan, and then hooked up with the Mr. Nice Crew.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=7172832&postcount=69

You can find NL Seattle Greg's original posts here:
[FONT=&quot]Northern lights#1 vs. northern lights #5[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]http://www.mrnice.nl/forum/6-breeders-support-information/12611-northern-lights-1-vs-northern-lights-5-a-6.html[/FONT]


Here's few posts from Nevil about the NL lines:

[FONT=&quot]When I first got the NL varieties, there were 8 types, 1-8.
They came with descriptions, which I published in my catalogue. These descriptions may not correlate with what later developed. The original intention was to purchase seeds from the US NL growers. It didn't work out and supply dried up. I kept the lines separate and inbred them. NL1 and NL2 stabilised into distinct types and NL5 only produced one unique individual.
NL1 was a full blood Afghan indica. One thick main stem, dark green leaves, modest yield with nuggety buds, a little coarse with good resin production, which when ripe went golden. The high was narcotic. The seeds ranged from tiny to massive. I used to love the big ones. Large fat heavily and darkly mottled seeds. Selecting for these seeds made this Afghan even coarser. It was fun to show people these seeds.
The best line of NL1 actually came from the smaller seeded types, better high and bud structure.
There weren't many pure indica lines around in those days. Big Bud, Hash Plant and G13 were pure indicas in my estimation, but were cuttings. NL1 was the only good pure Afghani male line I had.( there was Sams Afghani#1, but that was toxic in a bad way) The NL2 was a Kush.
I put the NL1 out there as a pure strain. I wasn't popular. People would tell me, "give me the pure strains", but if it cost them 10% of their yield they would complain, well try 50%.
The pure indica hybrids were more popular. NL1 x HP and NL1 x G13 were the best. At least people could use the word pure (very popular). But they were good!

I expect that a lot of people holding what they believe to be pure indicas today, would find, if the truth be known, that the sire line traces back to NL1.
N.[/FONT]

http://www.mrnice.nl/forum/4-talk-s...-nevil-afghani-kush-lines-other-grail-11.html

[FONT=&quot]"Ok.. so it sounds like on purchase all the nl lines were actually different seedlots of the NL family... not cuts."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]That's right OS. I did go to the States later and pick up the original U.S. NL5 mother and it was as it was described to me, part Thai. But my NL5 didn't seem to have any Thai influence. I spent a lot of time analysing the NL lines, in particular NL5.

I only saw evidence of two indica male lines in the NL series and that was NL1 and NL2. My best bet was that NL5 was a combination of NL1 male line and US NL5 female. I guessed that US5 was 50% NL2. Northern Lights 2x5 was the best that I could do staying within the line (pure NL).

Northern Lights changed the face of cannabis genetics (and many a smoker), but it was mostly through NL5. You've got to marvel at fate for dropping that one extreme plant into the lap of a budding seed breeder.
N.[/FONT]

http://www.mrnice.nl/forum/4-talk-s...-nevil-afghani-kush-lines-other-grail-11.html


And to clarify few things
- Nevil's NL5 cut is different to the North American NL5 cut

- NL5 is Afghan x Hawaiian, not Afghan x Thai as Nevil thought at first.

 

[birde]

I had Nl#5 from BCSC sent to me in the yr 2000.
I always detected a Grape or (Old grape) Taste.