Cannabis Sensei

Aurora Indica Grow Journal: Week 1

Grow Guides · By Jake Willhoite · Updated · 3 min read

aurora colors over water
Contents

Editor’s note: If you’ve ever wanted to see what it takes to grow a cannabis plant at home (legal for adults 21+ in some US states, within plant limits, though marijuana is still a Schedule I drug under federal law outside narrow 2026 exceptions), you’ll enjoy our new series: Grow Journals. The first strain we’ll cover is Aurora Indica, an Afghani x Northern Lights cross from Nirvana Seeds, being grown by one of Full Spectrum's photographers, Jacob Kluge.

Follow along on the journey as these seeds get germinated, grow for several months, flower, get trimmed, dried, and then cured.

Germination through Day One

I started germinating the Aurora Indica seeds by filling a mason jar with room temperature tap water (which has a pH of 7.1) and let it sit in a dark area for 12 hours until the seeds sink to the bottom to help kick-start germination. Once they sank, the seeds had all developed micro taproots.

Once that happened I transferred them onto a damp paper towel–you don’t want any standing water, it should all be absorbed by the paper towel. Next, I put the paper towel–folded over once with the seeds inside–into the plastic bag. Finally, I zipped up the bag.

The bag was placed on a heating pad to provide some heat for the seeds (I live in Colorado, so it can get pretty cold this time of year!). I had to re-dampen the paper towel every 6 to 8 hours so it didn’t get dried out too much from the heat.

I checked on the seeds until they developed taproots about a quarter inch long. Next, I transferred them into the peat pellets to begin the seedling phase and allow them to develop a strong root system.

How I did this: I pre-saturated the peat moss then inserted the seeds. This was done to prevent any extra stress on the roots from watering.

I’ve been using a spray bottle of dechlorinated water to mist and dampen the soil. The seeds are currently on a jiffy tray with peat pellets, where they remained until the seeds sprouted.

aurora indica seedlings in peat moss

Day 3

On their third day of life I transferred the peat pellets into 6oz plastic cups filled with (dampened) peat moss mixed with 20% perlite. I poked holes in the bottom for them to drain.

aurora indica seedlings in cups

Day 4

They’re on day 4 of life now, the seedlings are sitting on a drying rack above an 8w heating pad (for reptiles, but you can pick up a heating pad specifically for seedlings), with water bottles on top acting as humidity domes, under 3 LED bulbs for 65w total.

The humidity here is important, because the seedlings' small roots can't yet replace much of the water lost through their leaves.

aurora seedlings in cups with water bottles as humidity domes

Now I’m just waiting until they grow a solid root system to transfer them into 5 gallon pots for veg (the stage of life from now until it starts to flower).

Fun fact: Cannabis plants usually spend a few weeks in germination and the seedling phase before they hit the vegetative phase. Indoors, the grower largely decides how long veg lasts. Nirvana Seeds lists 9 to 11 weeks of flowering for feminized Aurora Indica.

Follow along week-by-week to stay up to date on this grow!

Sources

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