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'Goldfinger' - Malawi Gold X Flo

Elevator Man

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I've decided to set up a thread dedicated to 'Goldfinger' - my experimental cross of Malawi Gold X Flo. I've been very impressed with both strains individually, both possessing an extremely clear and anxiety-free sativa high, with very interesting psychedelic side-effects. Whilst the Malawi was quite a dreamy, trancey high, the Flo is penetratingly sharp and chatty, and noticeably motivational. Both have a very long duration too, with a smooth come-down. As I'm fairly new to breeding hybrids, it seemed like the perfect project from which to learn the basics.

Both strains have certain down-sides, which are listed below:

Malawi Gold:

1. Can be extremely leafy, with long fluffy buds that can become shaded from the light.
2. Susceptible to spider-mites.
3. Slow to flower - 14-15 weeks.
4. Resin only appears in the last two weeks.

Flo:

1. Generally low yielder with few branches.
2. Sparsely-leafed, which can inhibit bud development.

The goal with the project was to try and combine the favourable characteristics of the two strains, whilst eliminating some of the negative points by 'cancelling' them with each other. As Flo is an extremely fast but still sativa-dominant strain, I didn't need to worry too much about losing the high I was after, and could concentrate more on the physical and flowering aspects.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to incross to F2 this time around, so the plan was to try and find the best two females from a batch of seeds, in order to get an idea of the range of phenos possible. I used two Flo males, one purple and more sativa-dominant, and one green and indica-dominant (documented elsewhere), to try and introduce a range of physical phenotypes that might produce interesting crossing parents in future.

I sprouted 20 seeds, ten of each batch, and after a few weeks was able to select two good females. Sadly, both were from the #2 batch from the indica-dom male, which I think is quite weak in terms of physical dominance. I would have liked one of each batch, but there was little physical difference in my candidates, and so I picked purely on health and general vigour. And I think I still have a good enough idea of how the two strains mix from the examples I have.

Pheno#1 is spear-shaped, with a pronounced 'head' on each cola. The buds foxtail even more dramatically, and grow away from the main stem. Pheno#2 is more like the pure Malawi, with long tapering colas, with foxtailing buds held close to the main stem. Both phenos are still predominately green, with no purpling.

The goals of the cross (viewed from the perspective of the pure Malawi female parent) were:

1. Reduce flower time from 15 weeks to 11-12 maximum
2. Increase bud density, calyx size and resin production
3. Reduce bud leaf production
4. Retain profuse branching and long cola formation
5. Maintain a reasonable height for indoor growing
6. Produce a clear, stimulating high with psychedelic effects at high doses

So far, all seems on target, given the limitations I have of a drastically reduced deadline. These plants are just reaching ten weeks, and are on a two-week flush, starting last week. I aim to harvest these next weekend at eleven weeks exactly, and they should be done.

Now that I have to move house, my incrossing plans have been seriously interrupted, and I have to pack up the growrooms. It's unlikely that this cross would really flower properly outdoors in the UK, but myself and a few friends are still going to try it, just to see what happens! But as I need to see this performing in other environments, both indoor and out, I've sent a few batches of seeds out to a few folks, and hopefully they can try them out in other setups, particularly outdoors in much hotter countries than Britain!

I'm afraid I don't have any more spare other than the ones already agreed on, so please don't bombard me for more - there aren't any. But when these do get incrossed, then I'll see what we can do. Both phenos have also been pollenated with my selected 'MoFlo' male (just to make things even more complicated), and have a huge seeded branch each.

So for now, here's just some photos of the two phenos during most of the flower period - hope people find them interesting, and hopefully this thread will develop as other folks' plants get grown out:



















 
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DoobieDuck

Senior Member
ICMag Donor
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Lets Go....

Lets Go....

Now we know the specifics...let's get on with the show....LOL....Dr. Duck.
 
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B

BeAn

Subscribed, i saw your post in the sativa thread..most impressive dude. :D:yes:

Ill be following this one start to finish.. :lurk:
 

ThaiPhoon

Active member
Goldfinger in Thailand

Goldfinger in Thailand

Here is a shot of some freshly sprouted Goldfinger seedlings. There is one that is much more lime green colored than the others already!

Stay tuned!
 

Elevator Man

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Our first club members...welcome children...:)

Nice one ThaiPhoon - should be a fun hybrid, this one. The smells on these two phenos finishing off now are nothing short of miraculous - I can't believe they combined as well as they have.
 

Elevator Man

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Just a quick update here - the two phenos are on 74 days now and are beginning their final flourish - both plants have been on a 10/14 photoperiod for four weeks now, and have been flushed for the last ten days - I'm going to give them five or six more days, and then chop them.

Calyx development and resin production is frankly awesome for a first real attempt at a cross, and these could possibly represent the weed I've been looking for all this time. I'll try and get a couple more growroom shots in before harvest if I can...
 

eugenegreen

herbalist
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Wow! I am impressed and most definitely intrigued by this cross... I cannot wait to see and hear the final report on this cross... Seems like it's going to be something special! Much love and JAH bless Elevator Man...

eugene

P.S. Great attention to detail by the by the way! Superbly written...
 

Raco

secretion engineer
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Mine arrived last saturday!! :jump:
I´ll keep you informed!!Thx Elevator Man :wink:
 

muddy waters

Active member
really nice work elevator man, well presented, lovely looking plants

also great info to add to the great anecdotal data bank... for instance:

mites and malawi, that's interesting to me--i just went through an infestation of spider mite larvae and they went nuts on the cherrybomb malawi f2s and mostly left the landrace swazi right nextdoor alone. for whatever that's worth.

...you gotta be pretty dedicated to intentionally test mite resistance indoors heheh... and anyways in the absence of a munchable strain will an indoor borgfest really just leave the less savory strains alone? have my doubts about that...
 

Elevator Man

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Thanks folks - good to know it's keeping people interested...glad yours got there also Raco!:)

The mites are slowly moving in on a few leaves now, though with only a week left, I should be OK. I think the 'sacrificial' status of the Skunk X Flo, which seemed to attract every mite in the room, has really helped the others get through!

Some strains I've grown this time around have been almost impervious, but I think the thin leaves of the Malawi are its Achilles heel - thin in cross-section, I mean. I suspect that the indica-dom plants have a much thicker, waxier outer layer that the mites are unable to chew through. Still, it's a minor issue with these now, and they won't stop the inevitable...:)
 

Evolution

Member
superb thread EM--what an experiment! world class genetics, international environments, and extraordinary individuals! i am drooling in anticipation...


smells/taste--please describe them for the parents and then the f1's...u say they combined nicely? so interesting...

hybrid vigor- the f1's expressed heterosis?>> calyx size and resin production?

mites--i have experienced similar strain resistances...never once occured to me the thickness of the leaf, but of course...i had prev. attributed the variation to chemical make up of the cells...


peace and best wishes
 

DoobieDuck

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Hey friend, as I've said in the past...those Malawi Gold are mite magnets...but the genetics are a must in the mix...so...lets see some more images...LOL...Dr. Duck.
 

Elevator Man

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Doobieduck - the mites are manageable to be honest - just the medium-sized bud leaves is all they're nibbling, and there's no resin on those, so they're welcome...to them! The genetics are indeed world-class, and I can't believe these actually are finishing indoors at 11 weeks, and they're no more than a meter tall! Maybe I just got lucky...?

Incidentally, one of my friends, a real softie, who rescued one of my discarded seedlings from the trash, has revived it in his garden and it looks very odd indeed. He didn't know that plants will flower in the spring if they get too little light, (he had it on his windowsill in early March) and it was only when I told him what was going on that he put it outside! So it is covered in preflowering calyxes, but is now vegging properly. But it looks nothing like my two phenos - frankly it looks like nothing I've seen before! Pics soon of that one...:)

Evolution - hybrid vigor is definitely at work here - the calyxes are much bigger and the leaf is far less - and the resin is seriously building. The pure Malawi seemed almost resin-free until the last couple of weeks, when it all appeared practically overnight. These crosses have been building it since day one.

The flavour of the mother was very unique - a combination of the 'pineapple' smell often described, along with a pronounced floral smell like lilies, and what I can only call a 'ginger biscuit' smell in the background. The purple Flo male (not represented here) was very berry, whilst the green Flo male was very hashy and dark-smelling - that hasn't translated, but the typical Flo berry/spice is very prominent in both new phenos, without knocking out any of the original Malawi smell!

One of these plants (#1 - the spear pheno) though is so spicy it almost smells like sausage! Kind of cayenne/paprika kind of spiciness, whereas the other one is more sweet spice - cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg etc. It's blowing my mind that all this aromatic fun can be created at home...:)
 

Elevator Man

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Pheno#1 Harvest Shots...

Pheno#1 Harvest Shots...

Well, I chopped pheno#1 today, and although the calyx/leaf ratio is much better than the pure Malawi it still took a good three hours to trim all this lot...:(

Still, the yield looks great, and the smell is divine. Not much more to mention until this one dries, so here's some pics:











 

Elevator Man

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Well not a smoke report as such becasue it's too early, and I'm way too busy for much anyway, but I've been smoking some test buds of the #1 pheno, and it certainly seems impressive, even this fresh. It's very stimulant, and very sweet-tasting, and has kept the smooth build of the Malawi. Too raw for much more yet, but it's certainly no worse than either parent, which is good enough for now. More later...
 

Elevator Man

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Well both phenos are dry, and showing great promise! Obviously not cured, but even so, they're both potent, and very sticky and fragrant. Pheno#2 still smells of bluebells/ginger - one of the most delectable smells in weed I've ever come across!

I'll try and photograph the best buds of each shortly...
 
G

Guest

sounds awesome man! :) i cant wait to check out some dry pics! it sure looks like an awesome combination.
 

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