The exact germination date and method are unknown to me. I got three small plants from a friend (I estimate they were around 2 weeks old, but I don’t know for sure. I will update once I know (around 1.4.2024)). My approach is to just let them grow without a lot of interference and see what happens to get a feeling/baseline. In the beginning, he wasn’t 100% sure what he gave me, but he said it’s 95% likely to be Northern Lights from Royal Queen Seeds. He also wasn't sure whether they were autos or photoperiod plants. I assumed that they were photos, so I planned on repotting, but it turned out that two were autoflowers. But hey, you live and learn. (I actually like it so I can get more experience and do better with another run of autoflowers this summer.)
I also decided late to do this diary, so it will be very incomplete.
So, everything wrong with the plants should be attributed to user error and not to the company, as I am not 100% sure about the strains (95% sure, but things can get mixed up).
Feel you mate, started my balcony grow start of april and getting sun during may/june was the biggest challenge (yield was small). Overall your plants look nice and thumbs are pressed, that next week's sun will fatten up your girls.