Hello Boca Joe,
If memory serves me right( I grew up on a plantation), sugar cane will just propagate itself right from the mother plant. You can also use cane stalks cut so that you have a couple of nodes. New cane will sprout right out. Cane is a type of grass so it grows easily. Pineapples can be started using the crown of the pineapple. This plant will then produce fruit and shoots known as slips from the mother plant. Just break them off and plant them. Pineapple is a type of cactus and commercial fields are not irrigated. They do need watering but not too much. Pineapples grown in pots need watering but if you live in a rainy area, just plant them in the ground and just occasional watering is all you need. Hope this helps.
Ron

Aloha Boca Joe,

I don't know if either sugar cane or pineapples have sprouts at the base of the plants. Generally, to propagate them, we just use cuttings of cane and the tops of pineapples.

Chop the cane stalk into sections with a several nodes in each section. Push them half way into the dirt at a forty five degree angle. The node left sticking out at the top will sprout leaves and the nodes underground will sprout roots.

With pineapple tops, twist them off the fruit and tear a few layers of the small leaves off the bottom. You will see the little root nubbins there. Push it into the ground about an inch or two and that's about it.

Both sugar cane and pineapples are two year crops, though. If you are somewhere it gets cold during the winter, you may have to bring them inside.

A hui hou,
Cathy