After a 6-year 100% success rate indoors from seed to harvest, I had my first ILGM seed failure. Not mad, but did email ILGM with lot# if they want to investigate. I germinated two NL autos. One appeared weaker. Transferred both to small peat pots w/ organic soil. A week in, the good seed is 1.5" tall with second set of leaves. Bad seed was toes up, no visible remains of tap root at all. I know it wasn’t me; all my prior fem and autos produced above-average yields after paper towel germination and transfer to soil. I only do two at a time because my grow space, a repurposed shower stall, is limited. Two plants meet my personal needs for up to six months because I usually use a vaporizer instead of a pipe or a joint. It’s a more efficient and potent delivery method and there are no combustion byproducts.
I’d call that a good run! Over the past 6 years I’ve had tons of winners and tons of losers that didn’t germinate, came out wonky, runty, had to be culled…just par for the course. ILGM will take care of you i bet!
That said, get used to this situation. It doesn’t matter who makes the beans, what strain etc etc…not all beans will germinate and/or produce winners. I pop more than i need and cull down to the strongest candidates to flower all the way through. Sure it costs me a few seeds here and there but its far less expensive than growing a plant with little to no potential to the end.
Yep, their replacement guarantee is good for up to a year. The second seedling is acting wimpy; no visible growth in 3 days. So I decided to soak and paper towel the remaining 3 NL auto seeds. Pleasantly surprised to see all 3 starting to pop this morning. Also started a single amnesia haze auto earlier, planted it yesterday morning, and it was breaking ground yesterday afternoon. So I’m good and not seeking replacement for now. Still have 4 amnesia beans and 5 blueberry autos from the mix pack, but think I’ll go back to fem photos with my next buy. Better yield among other pluses vs. autos. I want some pure sativa or sativa dominant strains anyhow, and maybe I’ll get to Mars before SpaceX does, 
Well, I ultimately ended up with a 40% failure with the NL auto beans. Asked for replacement. Preferably not an auto. After raising photos and autos, I like having the life cycle control that photos give you. And I want to try my hand at cloning.
Personally, I don’t see any benefit to autos whatsoever. I consistently have an auto or two going for the science of it - yet to find one i would grow again…
Agreed. Autos are easy for a novice, but only if the novice doesn’t make the typical novice mistakes.
Photos are more versatile, especially wrt how you can manage and train them during the vegetation stage, as well as their ability to recover from intentional and accidental stress. Spotting the preflowers and flipping them to bloom, or holding back to allow more growth or take clones are other pluses. They take longer to mature, but you have more bud to enjoy while watching Harold and Kumar or Cheech and Chong. 
Addendum: Good seed referenced in first post made a liar out of me. Stem structure was too weak to support itself, and the root never developed further. You reckon this group of 5 NL autos were born under a bad sign? Waiting to see if the remaining pair will emerge.
Ultimately, of the five NL auto seeds, only one has proven viable. My spring indoor grow consists of two strong auto seedlings: Amnesia Haze and Northern Lights. A shout out to ILGM for making good; replacement seeds should arrive today.
Just as a side note i got northern light photos from ilgm and i had the worst luck with that strain. 50 to 60% didn’t germinate or put in rooters and they never made it. They replaced the duds with more duds.
