Northern Lights Automatic 2026 Balcony

SkunkyBreeze Welcome to the grow diary of my 2026 balcony grow! Since growing weed got legalised in Germany in 2024, I did two grows and had the following leanings: 1. I am going to grow only one plant to give it more space and better air ventilation to prevent powdery mildew and bud rot. 2. I am going to replace the one peppermint strain I was also growing on this balcony, because it is easily infected with powdery mildew. 3. I am going to use an automatic strain, so the plant will live from beginning of May until end of August to lower the danger of powdery mildew, bud rot, and fertilisation by male plants in my neighbourhood. This will also provide a maximum of sunlight to the plant, because the amount of sunlight on my balcony decreases rapidly in October. 4. Germination in low temperatures outside did not really work. I am sticking to my wool pad method this year. 5. Good watering is more important than I thought and it is very easy to overwater your plants. You should not water your plants more than every two to three days, except for the next learning. 6. Heat stress can ruin your harvest pretty fast and right before you finish. If you get temperatures around 30°C, add some extra water in the morning, also if you watered the day before! Additionally, black pots are not a good idea. 7. Bugs are a real problem outside. Prevention is better than cure! In this grow, I will spray some neem-based product once a week during the vegetative phase to prevent bugs. Additionally, I will use bugs to prevent bugs, especially spider mites. 8. I will use trichoderma and the neem-based product to fight powdery mildew before it shows. 9. I will start germination at the end of April, because flowering phase takes more time in an outdoor grow than in an indoor grow. My balcony is headed southeast, so it gets sunlight from the early morning until about 2:30pm. It has a roof, so rain only affects the plants, if it is very windy. My balcony is located in Berlin, Germany, so if you are interested in specific weather data, you can just look for data from Berlin. I chose Northern Lights as a strain. It is supposed to be an easy strain that is resistant to powdery mildew. When I tested it, it had a very calming effect, it relaxes the body, makes you hungry, kills your pain and makes you tired. Just what I like about weed. The smell and taste was subtle and mostly pine, it is like walking in a forest. I am excited to see how my product will turn out! My setup is as follows: - Pot: 15L Airpot - Medium: Plagron Light Mix - Fertilisers: Plagron Terra Grow, Plagron Terra Bloom - Additives: Plagron Sugar Royal, Plagron Power Roots, Plagron Green Sensation, Plagron Pure Zym - Water: The tap water in Berlin has a pretty high EC value, so I am mixing it 50/50 with "Gut&Günstig" source water, which has a pretty low EC value. The actual diary begins here: 28.04.2026: Set up two seeds for germination. There is supposedly very good weather during the weekend. I hope to have a seedling in two or three days, so I can make use of the good weather. 30.04.2026: Had a look at the seeds. They did not germinate yet. Looked up my last diary, it took four to five days last time. So I need to be patient until Saturday or Sunday. 01.05.2026: One of the seeds germinated. Planning to plant it in the evening. 02.05.2026: Planted the seed directly into the final pot. Watered with 200mL with Power Roots and Pure Zym. Put the pot outside. 27°C and sun only today, very low RH. Used a plastic bottle to keep some sun away and keep the RH around the seed high. 03.05.2026: 27°C and sun only. She is slowly growing. Hoping, everything runs well. The second seed did not germinate. 04.05.2026: 23°C, sun and clouds. Watered with 200mL. Not much happening with the germinated seed, I hope it was not too hot and dry in the past few days. Will see if it starts growing or if I have to start over. Started to spray a little water to it to soften the shell. 05.05.2026: Decided to remove the shell manually. It was not possible without destroying the plant. Seemed like the connection between the head in the shell and the rest of the plant was not intact, there was almost nothing in that shell. Maybe it became too hot and dry in the sun. The windows in the plastic bottle were a little too big, so it did not keep humidity as expected. Started my last two seeds, hoping for the best. 07.05.2026: One seed germinated, one did not yet. Hoping the second one also germinates, else this would be a pretty bad germination rate. Will probably plant the germinated seed on saturday morning, so it still has time to grow and maybe already get rid of the shell before getting planted. 08.05.2026: Exactly the same state as yesterday, which is a bad sign. I used to have zero problems with this germination method and 100% germination rate in the past. Maybe I took too much water this year. Exchanged the cotton wool pads with drier ones. 09.05.2026: The seed started growing again, so I am pretty sure it was too wet before. The tip turned yellow/brown. Not sure what the cause is, it could be too much humidity, of course. But today the pads were a little dry, so it could also have been a little too dry. Sprayed some water. Will watch the seed a little more before planting. Later that day, asked AI about the situation. AI said to plant the seed directly, so it can get in touch with the microorganisms in soil, additives and trichoderma. So I did that. Kept the seed inside with a little light from an UV bulb. Will see how this turns out. The other seed also seems to have started germination. 11.05.2026: Nothing happened. The second seed is definitely not germinating, also it looked a little bit like it. The first seed has not pushed through the soil. If it has not pushed through by this afternoon, I am going to dig it up. I want a strong, healthy seedling, not a plant that is a failure from the start. Update: A few hours before I would have stopped this, she pushed through! 12.05.2026: She is growing, but the shell did not fall off yet. 13.05.2026: The shell is still there. Put a little bit of water right on it. 30 minutes later, she had gotten rid of it herself. So we are finally entering vegetation week 1. Phew!