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emerogork2

Pineapple is a bromiliad and easy to grow

emerogork
9 years ago

Cut the top off of a pineapple and eat the rest. Peel the bottom leaves as if you were peeling an artichoke. Expose about 1' of the stem. Let it dry a few days and plant it using an extra large pot and in soaking soil. Let the soil naturalize to not moisture and 4 years alter it will send up a stalk for the sweetest fruit you will ever eat.

Choose an under ripe pineapple and look into the top for new leaves that are in good condition and resist being pulled out. Clip any dry tips so you can see the new growth.

Here in zone 4, I have to bring it in for the winter.

Comments (16)

  • hotdiggetydam
    9 years ago

    Long time to get fruit in good growing conditions outdoors..

  • Pyewacket
    9 years ago

    FOUR YEARS? No wonder they pick them green to ship! Waiting to let them ripen in the field would have to take even longer!

    Actually, as far as I know, it is 3 years in the field, not 4 - but I don't know if that is to the point of shipping or to the point of full ripeness. I wish I lived somewhere where I could grow my own pineapple, because field ripened pineapple is not the same critter as the green things they ship - half the time they seem to rot before they'll ripen anyway.

    Maybe it takes the OP an extra year because they can't leave them in the field year-round but have to grow them indoors part of each year ...

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    I started that way about 10 years ago. Now we have over 200 pineapple plants. This summer we harvested 38 pineapples. I get two crops a year one in summer and one in winter. So far I have 14 coming up that will be ripen between November and Feb. I live in Kissimmee so we do need to cover them when we expect a frost or freeze. We grow them in 5 gal buckets so we can move them and control the amount of water they get. If you live where it gets real cold you can just bring them into the house(not 200 of course) when it gets cold.

  • emerogork
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I was with some sales people visiting in Kissimmee at a restaurant a few years back. We debated if it was pronounced KISS-i-mee, kiss-I-mmee or kiss-i-MMEE and approached the clerk at the counter. I asked him "This place that we are in, how do pronounce it and say it real slow that we can understand it. The clerk in a slow deliberate voice said "Burrr-gerr Kingggggg"!

    Your pineapples are much bigger than mine..... 5 gallon pot! My first one was in a 1 gallon. My present one might be two gallon and I guess I will report it next year. It was potted 3 months ago.

    This post was edited by Emerogork2 on Thu, Sep 18, 14 at 22:50

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    Many people pronounce Kissimmee wrong. I usually tell people it's KISS im mee at night and Kis SIM mee during the day.
    We start most of our slips and tops in one gallon pots but a few slips grow so fast we put them directly into 5 gal pots. We use the 5 gallon pots like a hedge around our pool.

  • sunshine_qld
    9 years ago

    Once a pineapple is picked it doesn't ripen any more. That is why it is better to leave them on the plant until the desired colour and flavour is reached.

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    sunshine, that is what I have always read but that isn't true with my pineapples. We had one break off when we were moving it and it was just starting to turn yellow. After a week it turned much more yellow and sweetened up just fine. Now we often pick them a little early so the raccoons don't get them and they will ripen more after we pick them. I wish they wouldn't ripen after picked since I will have 3-4 ripe at the same time and if I don't cut them up to eat they will over ripen. I have to cut them up and freeze them.

  • Pyewacket
    9 years ago

    Of course they still ripen! They just don't ripen very WELL.

    Perhaps some varieties manage it better than others, but I have been ripening grocery-store bought pineapples at home for decades. They do get ripe, usually. Occasionally I'll run across a batch that just seem to go from green to rotten, but mostly they do ripen. They just don't taste nearly as good as field-ripened.

    They still taste better than canned, though.

  • oldfixer
    9 years ago

    My 'topper' is 5-6 years old, Never a sign of fruit.

  • emerogork
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    "My 'topper' is 5-6 years old, Never a sign of fruit."

    How large it is?
    Does it get a lot of sunshine?
    Too small a pot will prevent growth.
    I believe it prefers a hot climate.
    I hear that the center should be kept filled with water.

    My first, a few years back produced one that was about 2/3 of the size that can be purchased and its flavor was much better than store bought.

  • emerogork
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Is it one pineapple per plant or can there be several?

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    You only get one pineapple fruit per plant. The plant will give you several new plants which can them be planted. We usually leave the biggest slip(new plant) on the mother plant and let it grow. The others we take off and plant. The pineapple in the first picture I posted has 7 crowns. We cut them apart and planted 7 new plants. That's how we landed up with over 200 pineapple plants.

  • emerogork
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Just like a bromeliad...
    How cool is that? (:

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    you can see from the flower of the pineapple that it is a bromeliad.

  • QueenKutie55
    9 years ago

    Hi All,

    Seeking out tips/advice on what to do with my pineapple plants.
    I have 2 tops in 2 big pots growing on my patio, planted in February 2014. One of the pots (pictured) has what appears to be 2 plants growing. I heard that in this case the second one, smaller one, should be cut and repotted, Is this true? I have another pot ready to go with some organic potting mix. This is my first time growing anything, I've never been much of a green thumb, but after seeing a YouTube video about using the top of your pineapple to grow another one, I decided to give it a try. They are both coming along great. Any tips/advice would be appreciated. We are still in the 90's here in Texas so i'm not worried about the cold any time soon. Thanks y'all!

  • emg1953
    9 years ago

    That pineapple head is doing great. Yes you should very carefully pry the smaller plant apart from the larger one. After you get it apart peal off a few of the bottom leaves which should reveal some small roots. You can plant it and it should do fine. It wouldn't really hurt to leave it but it will grow much faster on it's own and give a bigger pineapple. Just make sure when the weather turns colder to protect them from a frost or freeze.

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