Northern Lights: The Seattle Spark

Fog City Foundations

In the late 1970s, Seattle was a fog-soaked outpost where early indoor growers experimented with lights, nutrients, and ventilation. Among them was Greg “Seattle Greg” McAllister, a quiet cultivator working with Afghan seed stock sourced through Steve Murphy’s Indoor Sun Shoppe—a hub for hydro enthusiasts and outlaw botanists testing the limits of small-space cultivation.

Purest Indica

Murphy circulated a heavy Afghan line he dubbed “Purest Indica”—dark, dense, and profoundly sedative. Greg ran selections under fluorescent fixtures, culling plants that thrived in cramped apartments and cold garages. By 1979, he named his standout female “Northern Lights,” a nod to latitude, light, and the emerging science of indoor photoperiod control.

The Numbered Line

Between 1979 and 1982, Greg refined his work into a family of cuts—Northern Lights #1 through #11. Each carried the Afghan core, with some expressions reportedly touched by “Hawaiian” or Mexican lines for flavor and vigor. Northern Lights #5, an early-1980s F1 selection, became the crown jewel for its speed, frost density, and unprecedented indoor potency.

From Seattle to the Seed Bank

By the mid-1980s, select clones and seeds reached Nevil Schoenmakers of The Seed Bank. There, the lines were standardized, documented, and offered to European growers. Catalogs placed Northern Lights alongside Hash Plant, Skunk #1, and G13—elevating a basement-bred project into a global genetic foundation.

Cup Domination

In 1989 and 1990, Northern Lights #1 and #5 swept High Times Cannabis Cup categories, reshaping the definition of indica: sweet-earth aromatics, compact morphology, and an electric, body-forward effect. The wins codified NL as the template for high-performance indoor cultivars.

The Lineage Lives

Northern Lights continues to anchor modern breeding. Hybrids such as NL5 × Haze, Super Silver Haze, Jack Herer, Shiva Skunk, and G13 × NL2 carry the original Seattle Afghan backbone. The cultivar’s architecture—fast flower, heavy resin, and compact nodes—underpins many of today’s frost-heavy indoor lines.

The Green Merchant Shadow

In 1989, Operation Green Merchant targeted indoor garden suppliers nationwide, including Murphy’s shop. The crackdown pushed the original Northern Lights circle out of view, and Greg receded from public life. The genetics survived through catalogs, shared cuts, and oral history across both U.S. and European scenes.

The Lasting Glow

Decades on, Northern Lights remains the emblem of indoor mastery—a proof-of-concept that light control and selection could rival outdoor potency. Its signature traits still flicker in modern rooms: rapid set, dense trichomes, and reliable structure born under artificial sun.

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— Nugg Notes