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Northern Lights strain: what the lab panels show
Northern Lights is widely told as an indica, an Afghani and Thai cross that began near Seattle and was refined in Holland after 1985. Among the products on the Las Vegas superstore's shelf that carry a lab panel, Northern Lights comes as three vapes from Brass Knuckles, Rove and Stiiizy.
What it is
In the usual telling, Sensi Seeds developed Northern Lights in the Netherlands, still sells it as 90% indica, and it went on to parent crosses such as Super Silver Haze; that is the widely circulated account, not a lab fact. What we can state is what a lab measured: the batches on our shelf now, when a batch is in, and the ones we wrote this guide from, below.
What is on our shelf now
Among the products on the Las Vegas superstore's shelf that carry a lab panel, Northern Lights comes as three vapes from Brass Knuckles, Rove and Stiiizy. The vapes test 91.1% to 95.1% THC. Vapes are extracts, so their THC reads far higher than plain flower's. Limonene leads all three of its panels (bright citrus, lemon and orange peel, in the terpene guide's words). Our per-batch grade, set by each panel rather than by the name, calls the batches on our shelf hybrid.
| Product | Format | THC | Leading terpenes | Our grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brass Knuckles Northern Lights 2g Live Liquid Diamonds All In One | Vape | 95.1% | limonene 0.66%, caryophyllene 0.21%, myrcene 0.20% | Hybrid |
| Rove Northern Lights 1g Melted Diamonds All In One | Vape | 92.2% | limonene 0.87%, caryophyllene 0.43%, linalool 0.31% | Hybrid |
| Stiiizy X Northern Lights 2g Live Resin Liquid Diamonds All in One | Vape | 91.1% | limonene 1.79%, myrcene 1.14%, terpinolene 0.41% | Hybrid |
From our latest menu update. The grade is the five-class spectrum, read from each batch's own panel; the product page always shows the current batch. Search Northern Lights on the live menu.
What the panels showed when we wrote this guide
Both batches were STIIIZY Liquid Diamonds live resin, a 0.5g pod and a 0.95g all-in-one, and their panels listed the same five terpenes in the same order. Limonene led at 1.94% in the pod and 2.28% in the all-in-one, myrcene followed at 1.52% and 1.64%, and terpinolene ran third at 0.52% and 0.53%, ahead of alpha-pinene and caryophyllene. Totals were 46 and 54 mg/g of terpenes at 86.7% and 80.1% THC. Our per-batch grade set limonene, terpinolene and alpha-pinene against myrcene, found them nearly level, and called both hybrid.
What that means for you
The strain's reputation puts myrcene first; in those two batches limonene led it. The reputation says indica and those panels said balanced, which is why we grade every batch on the five-class spectrum by its own panel rather than by the name.
Questions people ask about Northern Lights
Is Northern Lights indica or sativa?
By reputation Northern Lights is an indica: Sensi Seeds still sells it as 90% indica. That is its reputation, not a lab fact. Our per-batch grade, set by each panel rather than by the name, calls the batches on our shelf hybrid.
How strong is Northern Lights?
The vapes test 91.1% to 95.1% THC. Vapes are extracts, so their THC reads far higher than plain flower's. THC is a batch figure, not a property of the name, so the next batch can differ.
What does Northern Lights smell and taste like?
Limonene leads all three of its panels (bright citrus, lemon and orange peel, in the terpene guide's words). Terpenes are a large part of a strain's smell and flavor, which is why we read the panel rather than the name; sulfur compounds a terpene panel does not measure add the skunky note some strains carry.
What effects does Northern Lights have?
Effects vary from person to person and from batch to batch, so we do not promise any. What a panel tells you is the chemistry: which terpenes lead, and the grade it earns on the five-class spectrum, shown in this page's shelf table for each batch whose panel carries them.
Where does Northern Lights come from?
By the widely told account it began near Seattle as an Afghani and Thai cross and was refined in the Netherlands after 1985, where Sensi Seeds developed it; it went on to parent crosses such as Super Silver Haze. That is the circulated history, not a lab fact.
Where can I buy Northern Lights in Las Vegas?
At Planet 13's Las Vegas superstore, where today's shelf includes three vapes of it with a lab panel. The shelf changes batch to batch, so search the live menu before you visit.
Lab figures, when a batch is on our shelf, come from its panel and change batch to batch; the product page always shows the current panel. Effects vary by person; nothing here is medical advice. For use only by adults 21 and older.