Magic Merlin, Outlaw Genetics

[shdowlkr]

I recently received some Magic Merlin seeds (thanks OG) and planted 5 of 10 last Thursday, sept 3.
On Sept 7, 4 of the 5 had sprouted and on the 10th the last bean was considered :sick0004:.
As of today, there are 4 Magic Merlins in a soil mix consisting of
35% Shrimp and Seaweed compost
35% Sta Green All Purpose potting soil
15% Baccto Premium Potting soil
15% vermiculite and perlite mix (similar to hempy mix)

The soil tests out with a base PH of 6.8-7.0

I am having slight issues with compaction of this soil mix and increased the vermiculite after these had been started to rectify that issue. Hopefully it has.

The 4 that are up are nothing more then coyts and the single serrated leaves. Im assuming the compaction issue is slowing them down but health is still good.

They are currently sitting under 3 24w 6500k cfl's (with a bunch of other plants..)

I've tried searchin on here for a Magic Merlin grow, seed to bud and while most threads that have it mentioned (few and far between) none really follow it all the way through its life cycle. Im going to try and do that with this one...

Magic Merlin, from seed to buds... Lets get it done!!

 

[blueleaf]

good luck bro !

 

[ReelBusy1]

best of luck and skill to you.

 

[livinglegend]

nice, i got some MM's too. Got a week or two befor i can start them though....
goodluck.

 

[shdowlkr]

Nope, I haven't forgotten this thread. They have just been taking their time getting roots established. Mostly my fault with this soil mix. It seems to get pretty compact and the roots cannot move as freely through it.

Dont expect many updates til things start getting interesting. Right now, just we babies...

 

[shdowlkr]

Thanks for the well wishes guys. This starting soil mix will be the biggest hold up right now. It looks good, but too much compost in there. transplants will be into a lighter mix.

 

[blues frog]

Looking forward to this. Stick picsof your setup up here as well please, to help us newbies out.

Good luck with it.

:cool0044:

 

[shdowlkr]

Hey Blues Frog! good to see ya here man.

Heres a few shots of my grow box. They are older shots and the equip has changed slightly, but the space is the same.

Veg has 2 26w 6500k cfls and 1 23w 2700k cfl

Flower is a 400w hps

Main ventilation is a stanley blower fan in the top right compartment, discharging through a carbon filter on the left.

High temp in flower = 85
high temp in veg = 80

I'll try for some new pics of the babies tonight. They're moving along ok, but again, this soil SUCKS!!!:mad0233:

 

[blues frog]

When you get a chance add one of your flowering light/fan arrangement from the side pls Shdow, would like to see how u extracting the heat from hps. Is it in a col tube or summat?

 

[shdowlkr]

BF, that may be a hard shot to get. I only enter the flower side when the lights are on and that hps freaks the camera out with a straight shot.

The ventilation on the HPS is with a cool tube
The fan you see in the picture blowing down the tube is like a booster fan, ensuring plenty of air through the tube.
The back end of the tube is ducted to the compartment where the stanley fan is with 4" flexible duct.

All of the ventilation actually ties into that compartment with the fan. The fan is mounted in there as is the ballast for the 400w. The entire section has 1/4" layer of sound deadener, a 1/2" air gap made with expanding foam and a piece of acoustical ceiling tile pressed against the foam. All in all, with a stanley fan and 400w ballast in there, all you hear is the air blowing out the back of the cabinet, no fan noise at all.
The fan blows out of that space into the carbon filter and creates a negative pressure in the compartment. I have 3 4" ducts tied into that compartment, 2 for flower and 1 for veg. Those stanley blowers for 40 bucks are just unbeatable. This one has been running for 2.5 years non stop..

 

[blues frog]

Sounds great for that little cash. I need to soundproof etc, but am out of cash almost completely, so it will have to wait, also need to install carbon filter prob. cause I hear white widow is proper stinky, and the Lavender seedling pongs already, and so far I haven't needed it cause the plants in flower don't smell like traditional weed smell, more like fruit and spice, and I vent out at the roofline in an area with strong winds blowing away from any neighbouring property. I might not even need the filter, we will see.

 

[shdowlkr]

I wish ya well with that man but really suggest you get a carbon filter. With all the money, time and effort put into this hobby, its worth it to have that kind of security.

This cabinet has around 450 bucks in it. I DIY as much as possible. Metal fab by trade and built the CF myself with perforated metal. 50lbs of carbon was 40 bucks and the filter held 40lbs of it, lol. But now, I did spend 2 months designing the thing before I even bought the cabinet, lmao. All in all, it took me 12 hours to have it complete and I've only changed lighting and added a 2nd veg space since then.

 

[blues frog]

I have got a carbon filter that I made, nothing fancy, just a plastic tube with old tights and wadding, stuffed with activated carbon. Just haven't needed to use it yet. I live on a clifftop so the wind just carries it away.:banana:

 

[blues frog]

Been watching a thread by a guy who grows around 72 cuts at a time in 20 oz bottles, and he reckons he is getting 1/4 oz dry off each cut, with almost no veg time. As soon as the cuts have rooted well he puts them in 12/12 and ends up with one long running cola on each. Side branches lowdown are removed (new cuts I suppose). All this under 550 watts of CFL lighting. Unless the thread is a complete fake, then this is amazing as its about a pound of weed all told, in a space not much bigger than mine (about 8" wider)

 

[blues frog]

I wish ya well with that man but really suggest you get a carbon filter. With all the money, time and effort put into this hobby, its worth it to have that kind of security.

:sad0123:This cabinet has around 450 bucks in it. :sad0123: I DIY as much as possible. Metal fab by trade and built the CF myself with perforated metal. 50lbs of carbon was 40 bucks and the filter held 40lbs of it, lol. But now, I did spend 2 months designing the thing before I even bought the cabinet, lmao. All in all, it took me 12 hours to have it complete and I've only changed lighting and added a 2nd veg space since then.

I think I spent about 800 bucks on mine, but I built from scratch, no closet.

 

[shdowlkr]

I tried a few sog type runs in 16oz solo cups. I was getting 8-12g per cup. Not bad overall, but was constant work each night watering them all every night and changing over to a gravity fed drip rig helped, but was still 3 times the work I do now for a similar yield on a whole...

Sorry i havn't updated pictures yet... Had a few personal things taking over life as it was and twisting it into something even more fugg'd up. Such is life, if it were easy suicide rates wouldnt be so high..

the merlins are doing ok, still growing and got a light feeding last night.

 

[blues frog]

They sang 'Suicide is painless', guess they had some good grass.

Wow. 8 to 12 per cup, how many cups, and was it in the same space you got now?

 

[shdowlkr]

Nothing spectacular to report, just babies growing at this point.

Can't blame any of the growth, or lack of, on these genetics. Their soil was a homemade mix that is just not good!!! All 4 in the same mix and each one is showing different levels of health.
I've picked up some new soil and will remove all old soil from the roots and pack them in the new soil. Will happen by this weekend, got a few real world issues to deal with first off, but they will be happier soon!

Sorry bout the poor showing so far OG, I'll get it sorted bud.:rauch08:

 

[shdowlkr]

They sang 'Suicide is painless', guess they had some good grass.

Wow. 8 to 12 per cup, how many cups, and was it in the same space you got now?

Those that think suicide is painless are really some self centered souls...

Yeah, same space, 250w hps for those tho and I never really packed them in. Just used them to fill holes in there.

 

[shdowlkr]

Ok, took long enough but I believe we will be on the right track from here on out. I did take the time to repot all 4 Magic Merlins into some fresh soil, making sure to remove as much of the old soil from the roots as possible, without dunking them in water.
It was obvious from the first plant I turned over and removed the cup from the rootball on... That soil mix was just shit. Way to fine a mixture that compacted quite a bit. The roots that did grow through it were very skinny to say the least and for the amount of time in the pots, the root systems were lacking greatly (even the larger plant).

All plants in veg (not just the Merlins) got this treatment and from one to the next, it just got worse. Needless to say, Im keeping NONE of the old mix and just going with what I've got, the Stay Green All Purpose potting soil. On their next transplant I'll be mixing in Epsoma plant and flower tone to help feed them in flower. They will also get a mixture of Organic Teas, molasses and Better Gro Orchid chemical ferts through the flowering cycle.

Looking for 1 good lady, but will take as many as I can :)

pics in the next day or 2, gotta clear the camera..