Aurora Indica 2020 (I, II)

The 2020 classic outdoor Fall grow and review features Aurora Indica from Nirvana seeds. I knew I was going to do a more formal, explicit outdoor grow so I went looking for a strain that would fit the outdoor Maritime Canadian climate. As I will write about, I was focusing on end time and resistance to frost. I made a large purchase from TrueNorthSeedBank, and within that order I selected this strain for summer. The genetics are Northern Lights x Afghan, and it is supposedly resistant and tough for outdoors. Perfect! They did note that with big colas and density there are issues with mold ... this line always feels different when buying compared to when growing compared to when cutting out mold. The two Aurora Indica plants were started indoors and early so they had some size by the end of May. I transplanted them into a large container expecting them not to fill it completely with roots, but to fill it more than they did. Still, lots of visible, but they were far from root locked (picture not included). I balanced soil amendment, top dressing, and liquid feedings in terms of managing that size a container of soil. It became obvious as they grew and diverged that there were two phenotypes, I have since cloned both and flowered and seen the same traits to validate this claim. Phenotype A caught my eye growing fast and straight but as an almost pure indica. Phenotype B’s short and stalky nature was exactly what I expected. As we got further into it, Phenotype A revealed lovely pink pistils which were a treat to observe and photograph - worth backreading. Ultimately, I dry and vape all the flowers the same, and in the harvest this time I didn’t even have time to separately weigh and compare the two phenotypes’ yields. I have cloned and kept the Phenotype A line because it is unique and did seem to produce the bigger colas. The summer prior I had my plants seeded, at the time and perhaps still somewhat now, I thought a nearby industrial flood light was the source. It doesn’t seem good for flower in general, as the main colas would be drenched in light all night but still trying to flower. So, I cleaned out my garage alcove, risked life and limb, and moved the plants into coverage every night and back out to the grow area every morning. Was alot of work but kept the plants out of direct rain, wind and tropical storms. They got a more complete night cycle. I truly thought this technique would significantly reduce the risk of mold and mildew, and it may have. I was very disappointed to encounter mold on buds at the very start of October. The plants hadn’t even got wet. We had several days in a single week of 100% humidity, and then cold nights. So I see now that air humidity is the real culprit and should be the main factor in seed selection. Frost may be less of a struggle for my area. This was a huge letdown, I did not expect to deal with any preharvest mold plus the odd cobweb in the drying and curing phase. The smells were flowery, herbal, and sweet during the summer. Very fragrant and there were times I thought I didn’t really like the smell. Both the growing and dried product gives me an occasional aromatic image similar to OG Kush ‘98 which is not a good thing. When the product dried and cured it ended up being fine! It was sweet, flowery, herbal, with a little hint of fuel. The potency was a nice mid range indica. Its not over the top concussive, but it is explicit. It steadily relaxes you and is a very consistent experience. It makes for a good mixer strain in the background of any bowl. I do enjoy it solo but I don’t do it as often because of how singular it is with effects. The buds were dense, good for an outdoor grow with poor direct daylight. A bit flakey as they dried over time but I was quite pleased. Probably the best outdoor I’ve produced in terms of bud quality (minus any cobwebbed discards). The yield was large in the sense that I got plenty, and gave away a larger amount than I personally consumed. Friends like larger containers of gifted weed I noticed. This is my other knock though, I basically replicated my yield from last year just spread across two plants this time. The other grow had advantages to equalize that matchup, but I would suggest this was a bit of a letdown. This strain was less resistant so I threw out more. And I’ve swung my pendulum to a hard leaf fade, which I will maintain, but could do a bit better maintaining nitrogen later. The plan was basically executed. The strain was nice and the Phenotype A was a really great surprise. The effects, good. It is reliable and thats what I expected. The score reflects this. It also reflects a bit of mold when I thought it would be resistant and had been dry and covered. It reflects a bit of further cobwebbing which is annoying, and a yield that did not decrease nor increase from last year. Perfect timing to close out seasons, finish off the Fall harvest bud, celebrate various events. 8/10