Bubblegum x Northern Lites 5 is Indiana Bubblegum crossed to Northern Lights #5. Indiana Bubblegum is a genuine 1990s survivor out of Indiana and still the reference for what sweet is supposed to smell like. Northern Lights #5 is NL5 - the Northern Lights phenotype that became breeding stock for half the industry. Between them they cover ground neither reaches alone. CSI breed off held clones rather than off seed stock, which is why the parents named on the pack are the actual plants and not their descendants.

The number in Bubblegum x Northern Lites 5 is a specific plant, not a decoration. Humboldt CSI grow a population out, keep the individuals worth keeping and number them, so Bubblegum x Northern Lites 5 is one identified selection rather than Bubblegum x Northern Lites in general. A pack naming a different number is a different mother.

Indiana Bubblegum sits on the seed side here, Northern Lights #5 on the pollen side. If you have seen these two names paired the other way round, that is a different pack and not this one.

Genetic Lineage

• Mother: Indiana Bubblegum. A genuine 1990s Indiana survivor and still the reference for what sweet should smell like. Wants a moderate level of experience.
• Father: Northern Lights #5. NL5 - the Northern Lights phenotype that became breeding stock for half the industry. Also listed as CI #5 F1; density this high is what mould looks for.
• What to expect across a pack. Two distinct parents means real variation in frame, finish and nose. Select early and take cuttings off anything you would want again.

Flavor and Aroma Profile

The nose is where these two argue hardest.

• The Aroma. Pink bubblegum first, then cotton candy, strawberry taffy and vanilla cream, with ripe berry and a faint hash note from the Indiana Bubblegum side, against old-fashioned sweet earth and resin, from before the market chased extremes from the Northern Lights #5 side.
• The Taste. Cotton candy and ripe berry with a creamy finish up front, turning to sweet earth with resin behind it and a clean finish through the exhale.

How the two sides differ

• They are not on the same clock. Indiana Bubblegum runs seven to eight weeks, some reporting sixty to sixty-five days; Northern Lights #5 runs seven to eight weeks indoors. Across a pack that gap shows up as plants finishing days or weeks apart.
• Where the nose comes from. One side gives pink bubblegum first, then cotton candy, strawberry taffy and vanilla cream, with ripe berry and a faint hash note; the other gives sweet, earthy and resinous rather than fruity or chemical. Plants landing in the middle are the keepers.
• Two frames in one pack. Indiana Bubblegum is medium-tall on a slender, sparse frame; roughly doubles in height after the flip; heavy trichome coverage on dense buds. Northern Lights #5 is dense buds running golf-ball to soda-can size with calyxes stacking so tightly the nugs feel heavy for their size; minimal leaf to flower; heavily encrusted with milky trichomes by weeks six to eight. Decide which suits your room before you flip, because you get both.
• Opposite ends. Indiana Bubblegum is reported as softer and more relaxed; Northern Lights #5 as settled and unhurried; heavy and physical. The cross sits somewhere between and moves plant to plant.

Cultivation and Growth Traits

• Plant Structure. The two parents disagree here, so plan for range. Indiana Bubblegum is medium-tall on a slender, sparse frame; roughly doubles in height after the flip; heavy trichome coverage on dense buds. Northern Lights #5 is compact, heavy flower that frosts up by week six and trims fast because there is so little leaf on it.
• Vegetative Phase and Training. Open the middle out early. Light reaching the lower sites is worth more than any late correction.
• Flowering Time. The parents are not on the same clock. Indiana Bubblegum runs seven to eight weeks, some reporting sixty to sixty-five days, Northern Lights #5 seven to eight weeks indoors. Judge each plant on trichomes rather than pulling the room together.

Effects and Experience

• The Mind. Growers describe Indiana Bubblegum as softer and more relaxed.
• The Body. Northern Lights #5 is reported as settled and unhurried; heavy and physical, and that is the side supplying the weight here.

In the pack

7 feminized seeds per pack. Feminized seeds from Humboldt CSI. Their library is clones first and crosses second, which is why the names on their packs read like a list of plants rather than a list of products. Original Humboldt CSI stock.