Pineapple Upside Down Cake Autopot

SamDo Hi everyone, here’s the update for week 1 after germination. Still growing in the Autopot system with the Airpot. This week was a bit tricky. Temperatures spiked over 30°C, and you can see some heat stress on the leaves—they’re slightly wilted. Thankfully, today temperatures have dropped back to around 25-26°C, which should help the plant recover. I also swapped the light. Now I’m using a Core 5000K 54W from OpticLED. It generates much less heat and it’s more than enough for the vegetative stage. As for the parameters, they’re holding steady: EC at 0.6, pH between 5.8 and 6—all good. I’ll also put the dome back on to avoid uncontrolled heat spikes. That’s it for this week. See you in the next up.

SamDo Hey everyone, welcome back for the Week 2 veg update. So… things are still not great — the plant is still showing stress symptoms. pH is stable, between 5.8 and 6.0, and EC is low, around 0.7. This week, we’ve had temperature spikes up to 30–31°C, which is making it really hard — temps keep rising and falling, so it’s very difficult to maintain a stable climate. Right now, we’ve cooled down to around 25–26°C, with roughly 55% humidity. Humidity is fine for now, but heat is still the main issue. The plant is growing — slowly, but surely. I’m using a low-heat light, just to avoid pushing the temps up again. I also have another plant that’s a bit older and coping much better, but the younger one is still struggling — she’s delicate. That’s it for this week — no big changes, but still under control. I’ll keep watching things closely and catch you next week for the update. Take care, see you soon!

SamDo Hi, we’re back for week 3 of the vegetative stage. It’s not great… I decided to repot my plant into a larger container with a new nutrient-free substrate. I went for a coco-perlite mix and placed it in an 8.5-liter pot. The plant hasn’t really grown since last week, so I put it under an Autopot dome to maintain better humidity. As you can see when I zoom in, it’s struggling to get going, with very little visible growth. I kept the COB lighting to maximize vegetative growth while avoiding too much heat. Conditions are stable: around 25°C and 50% humidity in the grow tent. That’s not very high, so I added a small water tray to try to boost humidity a bit. For the parameters, pH stays around 6. I slightly increased EC to 1.2 and switched my base nutrients to the Athena line: Grow A, Grow B, and CalMag. Let’s see if these changes pay off next week. See you then, bye!

SamDo Grow Journal – Week 4 Week 4 of veg. After last week’s transplant, the plant is showing its first signs of recovery: a new set of leaves is forming, which suggests it has likely adapted well to its new substrate. I had kept the dome closed until now, but slightly opened it to lower humidity, and the plant seems to be responding well to the change. Inside the grow box, humidity stays between 50 and 55%, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. Higher peaks are expected next week, which may make it harder to keep the climate stable, already a bit inconsistent at the moment. For feeding, I’m continuing with the Athena line. Current doses are: • Athena Grow A: 1.5 ml/L • Athena Grow B: 1.5 ml/L • Athena CalMag: 1.2 ml/L • Athena Cleanse: 1 ml/L EC is holding at around 1.3–1.4, with a target pH between 5.8 and 6. I’ve noticed a few pH drops this week, possibly due to working with small 5 L volumes. The main highlight for this week is the visible vegetative growth recovery, an encouraging sign for what’s ahead. The goal now is to keep monitoring closely, especially with the upcoming temperature fluctuations, to keep the plant in the best possible conditions.

SamDo 🌱 Grow Journal – Week 5 Week 5 of veg, and things are looking better. The plant has clearly shown signs of recovery since last week’s transplant and repot. It’s gained back some strength, which is really good to see. I took off the dome because it felt way too hot underneath. Without it, the environment is much easier for the plant. I also switched on bottom feeding by opening the Autopot valve. Now the nutrient solution wicks up from below, and that seems to have helped a lot. Not an instant boost, more like the steady support it was missing. I think it was slightly under-irrigated before. The plant is now back on track and should return to normal growth over the next weeks. The start was rough, but I’m glad to see it hanging on and gaining vigor again. I also turned on the air pump to run the AirDome at the bottom of the Autopot, giving the roots more oxygen. We’ll keep an eye on how it responds this week. As for conditions, it’s still pretty hot: temps around 25–27 °C, sometimes hitting 30 °C. Humidity stays low, about 50%, not ideal but manageable. That’s it for this week. Have a good one, see you next time, ciao!

SamDo Week 6 of growth was another bumpy ride. Temperatures climbed up to 27–30 °C (Celsius), which is definitely on the hot side, and humidity sometimes dropped as low as 40–45%. That combo put some serious stress on the plant. To fix it, I made a simple but effective move: I turned off the exhaust fan. Right away, humidity went up to about 70%, and the plant clearly started looking more comfortable. She seems to be handling these new conditions much better. I did make a mistake this week, though. Wanting to push growth a little too fast, I cranked up the light intensity too quickly, jumping from 300 to nearly 600 PPFD. With humidity already so low, that sudden boost dried the plant out. She definitely felt it, but I caught it in time, adjusted back, and now she’s recovering well. A bit of lost time, but nothing dramatic. The real highlight of the week has to be the Athena nutrients. The pH stayed locked at 6.1 from start to finish, without moving at all. I really appreciate that kind of stability, and I’m excited to see how it will impact the plant’s health and growth over the next few weeks.

SamDo Alright guys, welcome back — week 7 of veg with the Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Humboldt. This week feels like a big win compared to the last one. The adjustments I made finally paid off. Cutting off the extractor really helped bring humidity back up, and that gave the plant the push it needed to get back into an optimal growth rhythm. I also realized that adding an extra light before was too much — way too much PPFD. So now I’ve gone back to a more balanced setup with a 54W COB at 5000K. The environment feels much more stable, uniform, and the plant clearly loves it. Nutrients are still straight Athena — Grow A, Grow B, CalMag, and Cleanse. EC is holding around 1.4. One thing I’ve noticed is a slight drift between what’s in the reservoir and what ends up in the saucer. That’s why I keep the res around pH 5.5–5.6. Once it drains through to the pot, it tends to rise, landing closer to 5.8 or even 6.0. It’s a bit tricky to manage, but the idea is to aim lower in the res so that the root zone ends up right where it should be. So, the main challenge for the upcoming week is to keep that pH steady in the sweet spot — ideally buffered around 5.8 to 6.0. If I can lock that in, the plant should keep pushing strong. For now, everything looks good. I’m happy with the comeback this week — definitely a victory. Let’s see how it evolves next week. Catch you then!

SamDo 🌱 Grow Journal – Week 8 This week, the plant kept growing steadily and looks healthy overall. She gained almost 8 centimeters in just seven days—that’s more than a centimeter per day, which is a great sign of strong development. I’m planning to work on her structure a little: probably a topping in the coming days, along with a light defoliation. The goal is to open up the canopy, improve airflow, and make sure the light is distributed more evenly, while guiding her growth in a balanced way. The main challenge this week has been the pH. This morning, the reservoir measured 4.8 while the tray was at 5.2, a 0.4 difference. I honestly don’t understand why the drop was so sharp. I had added Athena Balance, which should stabilize the nutrient solution. The only explanation I can see is the heat—we hit almost 31°C this weekend, and I suspect the nutrient solution was heavily affected by the temperature rise. If anyone reading this journal has insights on why this happens, I’d be glad to hear them. It’s a bit frustrating, because Autopots are supposed to make things simple. But in reality, I still need to monitor closely, especially since the coco buffer doesn’t seem to be doing its job properly—or maybe the reservoir just dropped too low and threw everything off. Either way, I’ll stay vigilant. Hopefully, with summer ending and temperatures cooling down, the solution will stabilize and the pH won’t swing so much. On the positive side, I’m still really happy with Athena nutrients. The solution stays crystal clean, no buildup, no deposits, and that makes things a lot easier to manage. So overall: strong growth, healthy plant, but pH management continues to be the main challenge. Let’s see how things evolve next week.

SamDo Hey guys! Here we are in Week 9, and honestly, nothing major to report. The plant’s doing fine — my main focus is still on pH stability. I feel like the coco is finally buffering around 5.9 – 6.0, which is exactly what I’ve been aiming for. I’m keeping a close eye on it. On the nutrient side, I’m sticking with the Athena base. I did add some Balance to the mix. Just to explain: I actually push the pH way higher than usual at first — up to about 7.4 — before adding the Athena nutrients. Once everything is mixed, it drops down to around 6.3, and then with just a drop or two of pH Down, I dial it back to 6.0–6.1. Right now, in the saucer I’m reading about 5.9–6.1, and the reservoir is showing about the same. So it looks like the buffer is finally kicking in. Structurally, I topped the plant and now I’ve got four nice apexes that I’ll train slowly over the next weeks. After the defoliation, I’m letting her recover and put some energy back into growth. Next week, I might start adding a little Rhino Skin (Advanced Nutrients) to help strengthen the stems and give her a more solid structure. But no rush — we’ll see how she goes. For now, EC is steady around 1.4–1.5, which is enough. I’ll bump it up later as needed. That’s it for this week — keeping the pH steady, letting her recover from topping, and just being patient. Catch you next week — peace!

SamDo Week 10 Update This week overall looks solid. The plant is in good health and has responded really well to the topping I did last week. The canopy has filled back out, it’s denser, and the structure is becoming more balanced. During this session I went in with a major defoliation, another topping, and some LST to shape the plant. Unfortunately, while doing the training, one of the junctions between a branch and the main stem cracked slightly. To support the recovery, I applied a small piece of tape as a bandage to help the plant heal and close the wound. Structurally, we now have four main branches, each with two fresh tops — which means eight apexes in total. The plan now is to let her recover gently and monitor how she develops over the next days. Environmental conditions are stable. Temperatures have cooled a bit, averaging around 22–23°C, with relative humidity hovering close to 70%. This range feels comfortable for the plant. Regarding pH, I no longer check the runoff in the saucers because it doesn’t make sense. Fresh nutrient solution leaving the reservoir at 5.9–6.0 will measure fine at first, but three days later the leftover solution in the saucer gives a completely different number. It’s not representative, so I just focus on locking the reservoir pH between 5.9 and 6.0. The plant seems to handle this approach very well. Nutrients remain unchanged for now. I may have added a touch of Rhino Skin, which I didn’t mention earlier in the diary, but it’s there to start strengthening the plant tissues in preparation for heavier branches later. So far, everything is steady. We’ll let her settle, recover, and keep following the evolution week by week.

SamDo 🌱 Grow Diary – Week 11 Veg Week 11 of veg, and the plant is finally settling into a steady rhythm again. After last week’s defoliation and topping, she’s been taking her time to bounce back, and this week you can see clear signs of recovery. Growth is coming back with energy, not explosive, but steady and healthy. Right now, there are eight new apex sites forming nicely. I’m considering topping again, but that’s still undecided—I’d rather let her keep pushing forward for a while before making that call. For now, she’s cruising. The main focus this week is on stability. pH has been kept between 5.9 and 6, and that seems to be working well. Temperatures are holding steady at 22–23°C, with relative humidity around 70%. These conditions feel just right for recovery and steady growth heading into autumn. On the branch I taped after it cracked during training, the healing seems to be going fine. I haven’t fully checked under the tape yet, but from the look of things, it should be on track, and I’ll likely remove it next week. It’s a bit frustrating that we lost some valuable time in the early stages, but over the past few weeks the plant has definitely been getting back on track. The color looks healthy, growth is steady, and overall she’s moving in the right direction again. So, Week 11 is about patience, observation, and keeping everything dialed in. No big changes, just letting her recover and stack energy for what’s next.

SamDo 🇺🇸 Grow Journal – Week 12 | Pineapple Upside Down (Veg) Week 12 of veg — the Pineapple Upside Down is cruising steady and looking stronger than ever. I’ve been letting her just do her thing, focusing on recovery and structure before deciding if I’ll top her later. At this stage, it’s all about patience and letting her build up natural vigor. Nutrient-wise, still running the Athena Blended line, holding the mix at EC 1.4. I’ve been experimenting with Athena Balance, and I have to say — it’s impressive. My base water pH usually fluctuates between 6.3 and 6.8, depending on the day. I add 1 ml of Balance, which actually brings it up close to pH 9.3. Once the nutrients are mixed in, the solution drops back down to around pH 7–7.2, and from there I fine-tune it with a touch of pH Down to land right around 6.0–6.1. I allow a gentle drift down to 5.8, but whenever it hits that mark, I bump it back up slightly to keep things steady around 6.1–6.2. Honestly, Athena keeps the reservoir incredibly clean — crystal clear every time. It’s one of those small details that really makes a difference when you’re running hydro long-term. Temperatures are holding around 22–23°C, with humidity between 70 and 75%, which keeps the environment perfect for steady vegetative growth. She’s lush, healthy, and just waiting for her turn in the flower tent — if I had more space, she’d probably be flipping already. That’s about it for this week — nothing flashy, just solid progress and patience. Can’t wait to see how she performs once she hits flower. Thanks for following along, growers — see you next week! ✌️🌿

SamDo 🇺🇸 Grow Journal – Week 13 Week thirteen. The plant seems in good shape overall, even though it’s starting to show some light discoloration on a few leaves. I don’t really know what’s causing it. Maybe it’s because the plant is growing and needs more nutrients now. Or maybe there’s some kind of nutrient blockage starting to appear. The substrate has been running for thirteen weeks, so it could be getting a bit loaded. I’m thinking a flush might help — just to give the root system a reset before moving forward. This week I also worked on defoliation and topping. We’re now at sixteen apexes, and I think that’s enough. It’s probably the last topping, because if I wait much longer, the plant is going to get too big and it’ll be harder to manage once she stretches. Aside from that, everything looks fine. However, I did notice a big drop in pH in the reservoir, which is strange. I added Athena Balance, just like always, but the pH keeps going down. I don’t really understand why it’s dropping so much. Other than that, everything’s okay — nothing special to report. The plant looks stable, and we’re getting close to the flowering stage.

SamDo Hey growers, welcome back! This week marks week fourteen of the Pineapple Upside Down grow, and things are looking really good inside the tent. It’s been a smooth, steady week — no drama, no surprises, just solid, consistent growth. The plant has fully bounced back from the previous weeks and is showing great vitality. The new apexes have stretched out beautifully, filling the canopy in a balanced way. Every leaf looks healthy, rich in color, and there’s not a single sign of deficiency or stress. Environmental conditions have stayed right on target — temperature and humidity are stable, keeping the VPD in the sweet spot. The setup’s running quietly and efficiently, and it feels like the system has found its perfect rhythm. It’s been one of those weeks where you don’t really have to do much — just keep an eye on the parameters, enjoy how she’s developing, and let nature do the work. Watching her push out new growth every day is honestly the best part of the process. So yeah, a calm and satisfying week overall. The Pineapple Upside Down is thriving, and we’re right on track for the next stage. That’s it for this week’s update, growers. Thanks for following along — see you next week for a new chapter in the grow. Until then, peace and happy growing!

SamDo Week 15 of veg for the Pineapple Upside Down — and she’s still cruising! Nothing dramatic happening, but that’s actually great news. She’s been pushing healthy leaves, good colors, zero stress signs. Nutrients are still on point, temps stable, lighting unchanged — a very chill week in the grow room. Right now, the goal is to keep her in good shape while we wait for the flower tent to be ready. It should take around 3–4 more weeks before she can move in there and start her real stretch. So I’m thinking about doing one last topping soon — just to keep that structure compact and avoid a skyscraper situation later. She’s showing that nice balanced growth I like: strong side branches, good spacing, and she reacts really well to training. For now, we just let her enjoy the ride, keep monitoring, and avoid rushing the process. So yeah — a simple, smooth week. Exactly what we want at this stage. Next stop: one final haircut (maybe), then a big move to the flower tent soon. See you in week 16!

SamDo Week 16 – Veg Phase This week marks week sixteen of vegetative growth, and things are staying right on track. The plant has been growing steadily with thick, vibrant foliage and a solid structure. She’s filling out nicely, with short internodes and a rich green color that shows she’s perfectly dialed in. I’m still unsure whether I’ll top her or just let her grow naturally. It’ll depend on how she stretches in the next few days, but either way, she’s responding beautifully to her environment. The pH remains stable between 5.9 and 6.0, and the environmental conditions haven’t changed — temperature and humidity are holding steady. No signs of stress or deficiency, and the overall growth rate is consistent. She’s starting to take up a bit more space, which means she’s getting close to the tent’s limits. If I decide to top her, that’ll help manage her height and open up the canopy for better light penetration. For now, I’m keeping the same routine — steady feeding, balanced environment, and daily observation. The plant looks strong, healthy, and well-balanced as she heads toward the next phase. That wraps up this week’s update. Next step: final decision on topping and preparing for preflower.

SamDo Hey growers, welcome back to the Pineapple Upside Down grow journal — week 17 of veg. The plant keeps showing solid, consistent growth week after week. Her structure is getting stronger, and the canopy’s really starting to fill out nicely. Leaves are broad, green, and vibrant — a sign that she’s fully balanced and comfortable in her environment. Nutrient uptake looks perfect; the roots are clearly doing their job. I decided to raise the EC slightly, moving up to 1.8, since she’s been drinking more and showing signs of higher demand. pH remains stable, and the overall system is clean, well oxygenated, and running smoothly. For now, there’s no sign of deficiencies or stress. Everything’s running exactly as planned. I’m still unsure whether I’ll top her before moving to flower. That decision will depend on the final height and how much space she takes once she’s ready to transition into the flowering box. At this point, I prefer to let her develop naturally, focusing on strength and branch structure rather than manipulation. This phase is all about preparing her for a smooth transition into bloom, with maximum vigor and balanced nutrition. So for now, patience and observation. Next week should mark the last phase before flowering, and from there, things are going to get a lot more interesting. See you next week, growers — keep it clean, keep it green, and stay consistent. Peace

SamDo This week marks Week 18 of veg for the Pineapple Upside Down, and things are getting interesting. The plant is still pushing hard, stacking growth on all sides — more height, more volume, more density. She’s clearly in that phase where she’s comfortable, full of energy, and ready to take every bit of space you give her. But that’s exactly where the challenge begins. Right now, I still can’t move her into the bloom tent. There’s another plant finishing inside, so the space isn’t free yet. And that delay changes the whole strategy, because this girl is getting tall — fast. So the main question of the week is the same one I’ve been wrestling with for a while: Should I let her stretch and plan a SCROG, or should I top her to keep things low and contained? And to be honest, I’m still not ready to decide. I want to see her in her final environment before making that call. Transplanting into the bloom tent will change the lighting, the airflow, the VPD, the root-zone rhythm — and I don’t want to shape her structure blindly before she settles in. On top of that, she’ll need a short acclimation period once she’s transferred, so there’s no point in rushing structural training now. It could do more harm than good. So for the moment, the rule is simple: don’t touch anything. I’m keeping her on the same settings, same nutrition, same EC, same feeding schedule. She’s clearly thriving, and when a plant is this comfortable, the smartest move is not to interrupt her momentum. You can feel she’s building up internal energy — thicker stems, fuller leaves, faster node spacing. All of that will pay off in bloom, as long as I manage the height correctly once she moves to her final tent. This week is all about timing. Letting her grow, monitoring the stretch, and holding the decision until the very last moment. The more I watch her, the more I realize that patience here is probably the winning move. For now, she’s healthy, beautiful, vigorous, and still accelerating. No signs of stress, no burn, no deficiencies. Just a plant in full confidence. Next week should be decisive — hopefully the bloom tent will finally be free, and I’ll get a clearer picture of the strategy: SCROG or top. Until then, she keeps growing… and I keep observing.

SamDo Week 19 of Vegetative Growth (Transition Week – Pre-Flower Move)** This week marks an important milestone for the Pineapple Upside Down Cake: she was finally moved into the tent where she’ll spend her entire flowering phase. She’s not flipping yet — this stage is all about controlled acclimation before the real show begins. Up until now, she was growing under a 5000K blue-leaning veg light at low wattage, which kept her compact and focused on structural development. Inside the flowering tent, the lighting is completely different: a full-spectrum 3500K panel, warmer, broader, and naturally more stimulating. A spectrum switch like this can easily stress a plant, especially in late veg, so the intensity was intentionally reduced to 300 PPFD to give her a soft landing. Temperature conditions also shifted: about 21°C during the day and 17°C at night, with the light set to 25% power. It’s a cool, stable environment — ideal for a plant adjusting to a brighter and wider spectrum. The second key topic of the week was training strategy. Her growth was accelerating fast, and the debate was wide open: Should she be topped? Should we go for a scrog? Should we prune more aggressively? In the end, the most coherent choice was a clean LST session. Her main branches — roughly ten apexes — were gently bent and opened to create a wider, flatter canopy. This approach keeps stress minimal while giving her a solid architecture to handle the upcoming stretch. Over the next few days, she’ll naturally stand back up, and once she does, her true structure will become clearer. At that moment, we’ll be able to judge whether she needs extra shaping: a light defoliation, selective pruning, or even a late top if it really makes sense. For now, the plan is simple and strategic: • monitor her adaptation to the new spectrum, • watch how she reacts to the LST, • keep the environment stable, • and only move to flowering once she shows full vigor again. Summary for Week 19 (Vegetative Growth): – Successful transition into the flowering tent – Spectrum shift managed smoothly with 300 PPFD – Cooler environment helping with acclimation – Clean LST performed on about ten apexes – No visible stress, good potential for a controlled stretch – Next step: wait for full adaptation before flipping See you next week for the follow-up — the pre-flower phase is getting close.