Week one of vegetative growth for Pineapple Upside Down ā Round 2, from Humboldt Seed Company.
Iāll be straight: the start wasnāt smooth, again.
Even keeping things āsimple,ā I managed to stress the seedling early on.
The initial mix was tap water with a very light dose of CalMag and a bit of Voodoo Juice, with pH sitting around 5.8ā5.9.
The coco pellet was fully hydrated, but the plant clearly didnāt like something.
It looked like early burn or a harsh reaction, which is frustrating because the input level was low.
At that point, the likely causes were pretty classic:
maybe the feed was still too rich for a newborn,
maybe the dome ran too warm,
or maybe the seedling just hates my ālight touchā and wants even less.
So I did the smartest thing: I stopped guessing and reset.
I rehydrated the coco pellet again using only RO water.
I dropped EC down to 0.4 and kept it minimal, using just a small amount of FormuleX.
No CalMag, no extras, just a clean baseline.
Since that change, things look more encouraging.
I can see two new pairs of leaves coming in, and thatās the sign I wanted.
The seedling is around 5 cm tall right now, and Iāve kept humidity high in the mini greenhouse to support rooting and recovery.
The goal for next week is simple: clean new growth.
If the new leaves stay healthy, Iāll know the issue was the early mix and not something deeper.
And yeahāseedling starts are still my weak spot.
Iām clearly making mistakes somewhere in that āfirst 10 daysā window, and I need to tighten the process until itās repeatable.
For now: stable environment, minimal inputs, and steady observation.
See you next week.
**Quick update on the Pineapple Upside Down Round 2.**
I transplanted the plant into its final pot.
Sheās still a small one, but the roots have clearly started to develop, and she now has four full pairs of leaves. That was enough of a signal for me to move her into the final container without waiting any longer.
That said, the start hasnāt been as clean or as smooth as I would have liked.
Itās not a perfect takeoff, but itās clearly not as catastrophic as the previous cycle either. The plant still looks fairly vigorous, which is reassuring at this stage.
Iām still running the humidity dome to keep a high level of moisture around the plant during this early phase. The goal is to limit stress as much as possible and help the roots settle properly after the transplant.
I mixed a fresh, light nutrient solution.
EC is set around 1.0. Iām running Athena Grow A & B, plus a small dose of Cal-Mag.
Roughly 0.9 ml per liter for Grow A and Grow B, adjusted to reach that EC.
Hopefully, the combination of the transplant and the light nutrient solution wonāt slow her down or cause any setback. The focus here is stability, not performance.
On the lighting side, I lowered the fixture slightly and reduced the power to stay efficient. PPFD is sitting around 180 at canopy level, which feels appropriate for this early stage.
So overall, not a perfect start, but still a workable one.
Weāll see how she reacts over the next few days, and Iāll do another update at the end of the week.
See you next week.
Stay safe, growers.