I’ve only grown Norstar gear a couple times before becoming a tester, but each run I’ve had with their gear was very nice.
I did SETI( Apollo 13 x Jesus OG) last run I loved it so much, very terpy and Apollo like in initial flavor, with effects that are heady and focused like Apollo 13, with some body to it that builds and eases into a relaxing kushy heavy stoned effect like the Jesus OG in it.
Very nicely done balanced hybrid. I may need to get another pack it was so delicious.
It’s the least I can do!
This got me thinking about Norstar…I have a couple old packs that I’ve never dug into…Lands End and Solar Winds freebie. I think I passed over the Lands End due to hearing their Frisco OG wasn’t the best and I’d never been able to find info on the solar winds…which I just found is (Purple urkle x chernobyl) x Purple Mayhem…hmm
I’m running a few of his Ortega Mix next run to see how it looks. Only gonna pop 3 seeds, got 6, but we’ll see
I ran testers of the chulumbian years ago and have some of there Panama red stashed away, the chulumbians were surprisingly uniform.
paying to test seeds is strange.
I don’t think I would feel great about spending that much money on untested genetics with strings attached. Pay $200, grow out 2 or more strains plus full documentation, all for the privilege of paying $100 for the next batch.
Grow 4 to 8 and you get more seeds, but that’s a lot of work in one year and you’re basically paying norstar $200 to be a part time employee working for free…
I can see the breeders perspective on this though, wanting to have some way to hold testers to the agreement, and if testers don’t hold up their end, get paid for the seeds regardless.
You can grow in a small tent with perpetual 12/12 light to open pollinate.
Just sow a small handful of a cultivar in one big pot for F2’s. 
They’ll be small plants, but you’ll be able to fit many.
I will be transplanting the plants that look female, and the ones that have not shown sex yet.
I have a couple males and I had a couple
mutants early on that just wouldn’t grow normally so I culled them.
I was traveling for the holidays and to see family and didn’t realize they would get so hungry while I was gone because before I left they looked just fine, but they shot up and got root bound while I was gone…
I was expecting to transplant when I returned, but most of the plants have slight nitrogen deficiency as the lowest leaves are yellowing a bit
But definitely no big deal I’ve messed up worse in the past no doubt I will transplant into their final pots today and keep an eye out for any other male plants that may pop up
Next grow I’m going to look into doing things differently.
I absolutely love growing in Subcool’s Super Soil for quality and all but it is very labor intensive and I have countless injuries that are making it much harder as time goes on.
I’ve done coco dtw, soil with liquid nutrients, and organic soil grows in the past, plus I’ve always been interested in no-till, plus other organic soil methods.
Any recommendations for growing methods that are easier on my back and knees?
I am leaning towards no till as once I set it up and run a few cycles it will be awesome I’m sure…
Automated coco drain to waste, only gotta fill your rez and empty your drain trays. For a setup like yours we grow pretty similar it’s very easy. I’ll have a journal with my automated system by end of the week up. It’s mostly premade from flora flex with very little diy.
Sow some companion crops in there, every species of plant activates different fungi and bacteria.
The more of them are active, the more fertile the soil.
Diversity makes it all happen on its own and creates its own stability and fertility, everything becomes much more robust and resilient.
When you forget watering, the companioncrops will die first and in fact feed the soil.
You are still in full control and can prune the companioncrops to your liking.
Basil, for example, is a perennial and after about a year their stems will turn woody and very strong, so you can use them for LST training.
Same with the old stems of your cannabis plants, I let them sit and harvest only the side branches.
Pepper plants seems to also be great companion plants. 
Now and then I chuck a small handful of seeds in there as I win them in the Free Seeds thread and I create my own crosses as well, I’m under perpetual 12/12 so I can grow many small plants very fast and make lots of seeds through open pollination.
I never have to dim or move my light up or down anymore.
There’s sprouts and flowering plants right next to eachother.
This way you can also try more different cultivars and find the ones that work for you faster.
Along with kitchenscraps I also add tree leaves, grass clippings, thistle, nettle, dandelion, … these plants all contain all the minerals necessary because of their deep taproots, and it’s all free!
Water a little bit every other day, or every day, or a lot of water once a week, it doesn’t really matter, it’s a very resilient method.
After this harvest you can start your new plants + companioncrops in smaller pots which you then simply park on top of the big pots you’re using now. The roots will easily grow through the holes, or you can use a wide short piece of pipe. Then you can start mulching with kitchenscraps and go for a walk in nature with a bag and collect some organic material. 
It’s been working great for me for a few harvests now, plants never show any deficiency anymore apart from natural senescense at the end of flowering.
And the soil never gets too hot because I only add fresh organic matter so it’s all slow release.
There’s entire civilizations of insects in there that rise and fall in their own cycles, even with fungus gnats, aphids and thrips, they never take over completely, now and then a few pop up and nibble on some of the lower leaves but the plants couldn’t care less and just keep on growing and growing.
When you find a good watering rhythm that works for your climate then it will smell like a forest.
If it smells bad then it’s a sign of overwatering and/or not enough diversity in your mulching.
I’m exactly on this side of the fence. I’m just starting to do some crosses, and yeah, it’s work to get everything where you need it to be…can’t see paying THEM for the honor.
Just doesn’t make sense to me…but to each his/her own.
Grow biggly.
Lob
Well, looks like I finally earned being a member on here !
Yay so now I can participate in the seed giveaways, etc…
Exciting to see what I can get my hands on now with the help of the community here.
Maybe some BOG gear as I’ve never ran anything of his sadly.
But who knows what lies in the future? Last year I wouldn’t have thought I’d have this much stuff in my possession, let alone many more breeders I’m interested in, plus all the amazing stuff people create on here and hand out as well.
2023 is gonna be awesome though to say the least, the hardest part will be deciding what to grow first, but I think that’s nothing to whine about in my opinion it’s much better to have all these varieties at my fingertips then only to have just a keeper or two…
Congratulations on member status! I hope you have been enjoying the atmosphere around here 
I definitely have been enjoying the community and knowledge being shared plus now that my trust level is up, I’m really gonna have fun !
Thanks again for inviting me over here! @buckaroobonsai
So I removed the last males to show sex today so out of a 10 pack of testers got four females, five males, and one mutant that wouldn’t grow from the getgo. Not bad results at all.
The plants are starting to take on a nice aroma, like cheesey and gassy which doesn’t surprise me with the uk cheese mom and west coast sour diesel dad…
I am keeping an eye out for any Hermies as late nanners and sacks are the bane of my existence when I’m not trying to preserve the genetics of a strain and want it to be sinsemilla
I have to remember to take lots of pics in late flower and of finished buds and to be as detailed as possible in the little report they sent me to use for all the tester strains they send me.
I’ll take a new picture of the girls left very soon to show y’all they are in stretch right now since I flipped to 12/12 on December 1st.
I had to bend the tops of one completely over as it is getting much taller than her sisters but who knows she might be the best out of the bunch we’ll see.
See the two diagonal from each other are about the same height so I bent the tall one down to a similar level and hopefully the shorter one will stretch a bit more and catch up as well
Canopy is more even than before I keep using LST on the tallest one by bending her tops down daily
I like what I see so far just keeping an eye out for hermies and nanners like a hawk as these are testers so on my opinion their stability isn’t 100% tried and true.
I didn’t clone any of them as I was out of space when I started these beans so I almost hope none of them truly blow me away so I don’t have to re veg anything as I have done it many times in the past to save a strain but it takes a lot of time and extra space too
But at the same time I’d be thrilled if I find a pheno better than anything else I have as I can reveg her and use her as a momma in some pollen chucking adventures too
But who knows only time will tell! Happy growing my OG brothers and sisters!
Coming along pretty nicely so far, and this is a different angle than I usually take pics from.
Day 25 or so flower today since flip.
Saw this in High Times from a few years after the fire…
Man I miss Subcool and his attitude towards this plant plus his passion for spreading knowledge and seeds which has inspired me since back when I was hardly getting started growing for myself.
Now many years later, I’m still growing his strains and I’m not going to stop anytime soon!
These tips are very simple but I practically live by similar ideas and techniques in my garden. I just miss episodes of the weed nerd show man those used to be something really cool to look forward to on a regular basis. Glad YouTube has left them up so I can still watch old ones even 10 years old or so and remember some good stuff from back then.
Got more testers last month and I completely forgot to list them !
Vintner’s Moonshine S1
Sour Sunset (Moonshadow x WCSD)
Deviant (Dark Desire x Dirty Little Secret)
Zappa (Dirty Banana x Zava)
The tallest plant has a lil bit of N deficiency, lowers are yellowing up nearly to mid plant, but I top dressed some Super Soil, which I do usually by this point if plants start running out of gas so to speak.
But when I transplanted them to their final pots, they all were starting to have a slight N deficiency, so I should’ve put more Super Soil in each pot or top dressed sooner.
Watering every couple days with about 3/4 gallon per 7 gallon pot at a time.
Temps range from 75-85 degrees and my humidity is usually 45-50%.
