Not only is growing pineapples ridiculously easy. Growing pineapple plants is feasible almost anywhere within the world.
That’s because the pineapple is one among the few tropical fruits that are rather well suited to growing in pots, which means you’ll grow pineapple plants indoors.
Having said that, to grow good pineapple fruit (and in reasonable amounts) you would like to measure somewhere that’s warm and sunny year round. Below we’ll mention growing pineapples outdoors to urge many fruit.
I love pineapples. i really like the fruit, i really like the plant itself and its spectacular flower, and once you’ve got a couple of pineapples… Well, they multiply like rabbits, so if you grow pineapples you ultimately find yourself with many them.
I grow many pineapples in my garden. If you plant them within the right spot they have virtually no care whatsoever.
But let’s start at the beginning . Here’s all you ever wanted to understand about growing pineapples (and then some).
Pineapple you grow yourself—even if it’s smaller—is much tastier than the pineapple you purchase , and it’s basically free. this might come as a surprise, but you’ll actually grow a pineapple reception from one that you’ve bought from the grocery . If you’re trying to find a fun gardening project (with a sweet payoff!) this might just be it.
Pineapple fruits are native to South America—they gained their unique name right round the time of the ecu colonization of the New World once they were thought to seem something like traditional pine cones. Both within the wild and indoors, they grow slowly and may sometimes take as many as 24 months to succeed in full maturity and be ready for harvest. When planting and growing a pineapple indoors, you’ll start at any time; however, outdoors they’re best planted in early fall.
Botanical Name | Ananas comosus |
Common Name | Pineapple |
Plant Type | Fruit |
Mature Size | 3–4 ft. tall, 3-4 ft. wide |
Sun Exposure | Full Sun |
Soil Type | Rich, well-drained |
Soil pH | Acidic |
Bloom Time | Summer |
Flower Color | Purple, pink, red |
Hardiness Zones | 11, 12 (USDA) |
Native Area | South America |
Toxicity | Non-toxic |
All About Growing Pineapples
Growing Pineapples is straightforward
This page summarises all the essential information about growing pineapples. It’s best to read this first. it’s going to be all you would like .
More Pineapple Growing
Your pineapple tops are planted and doing well, now you would like to understand the way to take care of and multiply your pineapples. find out how to propagate using slips and suckers and find pineapple growing tips and methods .
Pineapples And Permaculture
Ideas, tips and tricks for growing pineapples during a permaculture garden.
Growing Pineapples is straightforward
Growing pineapples is straightforward if you get the fundamentals right.
Pineapple Care
Pineapple plants are a part of the bromeliad family and may be grown in conditions almost like many other members of its family, like aechmea and air plants. When the pineapple matures, it’ll send up a flower spike, except that rather than a flowering bract, it’ll grow pineapple on top of a stiff spine. Botanically speaking, the pineapple is really the composite of the plant’s many flowers and berries, which merge to make one fruit. because the fruit matures, a replacement offshoot emerges from the highest, while others emerge from rock bottom. Any of those are often divided to yield a replacement pineapple.
Pineapples aren’t hard to grow. A successfully rooted pineapple will start to grow within weeks, provided it gets many warmth and adequate moisture. Once rooted, the pineapple will typically upwards of two years to supply mature fruit, although this length will vary counting on your conditions.
Light
Pineapples prefer full sun, so give them many lights—at least six to eight hours each day. When choosing where to put your pineapple in your home, choose a sunny windowsill that boasts many direct rays. If you don’t have a spot in your home that has enough bright light, consider investing in a man-made grow light to supplement.
Soil
Pineapples should be planted in moist but well-drained soil. Any traditional potting mixture works just fine, but there’s an opportunity you’ll even be ready to find a bromeliad-specific soil blend. It’s helpful if the soil is slightly acidic in nature, but overall they will thrive in an environment that boasts a neutral pH level too.
Water
Water your pineapple profusely throughout its life. like most bromeliads, you ought to never allow your pineapple to take a seat in water, and always water it from the highest down. Pineapples will grow slower if they’re not receiving enough water but are generally more tolerant of being under-watered instead of over-watered.
Temperature and Humidity
True to their tropical roots, pineapples cannot thrive in cool, dry weather—and never in frost conditions. For the simplest results, keep your pineapple in temperatures that range from 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. When it involves humility, your pineapple will likely be fine with the conditions already in your home. If you reside in an especially dry climate, you’ll try misting your plant occasionally, but never to the purpose of saturation.
Fertilizer
Feed young pineapple plants with a weak liquid fertilizer monthly throughout their season. After the primary year of the pineapple’s life has passed, you’ll fertilize the plant once every few months.
Pineapple Plant Varieties
There are eight species of pineapple, but practically an untold number of cultivars. Pineapples are economically important plants, so breeders have worked to supply the “ultimate” pineapple, one that’s sweet and tender, with an extended time period and excellent shipping characteristics. Choose your pineapple supported by the mother plant (or fruit, during this case). The offset is going to be just like the mother plant, so providing you provide it decent conditions, you’ll get a really similar plant.
Propagating Pineapple Plants
Pineapples are easily propagated, either the fruit itself or the mother plant. To propagate a pineapple from a grocery fruit, stop the highest of the plant, including the leaves on top (the immature plant) and a thick slice of the fruit. Plant the cutting therefore the leaves are flush or slightly above the soil line, then start watering the plant from the highest.
But first of all, here are a couple of pictures of pineapple plants for those that don’t know what they appear like:
Above are some young pineapple plants of two different varieties. The other is named Smooth Cayenne, a spread that’s grown commercially. i’m unsure what the primary one is named . it’s a smaller plant, with even spikier leaves, and really sweet, small fruit.
The next photo shows a mature pineapple from the highest .
The last photo shows a fruiting plant. The fruit stem emerges from the center of the plant and you get one pineapple per plant.
A Few belongings you Should realize Pineapple Plants
- Pineapples don’t need much water. they need very tough leaves in order that they don’t lose much water through evaporation. they will get by on little or no .
- Pineapples need free draining soil.
- Pineapples don’t need much soil or top quality soil. They belong to the family of bromeliads, and like all bromeliads they are doing not have an enormous rootage .
- Pineapples get tons of their water and nutrition through their leaves.
- Pineapples like slightly acidic soils, which is what most gardens have anyway.
- Pineapples grow fully sun, even within the hottest climates, but they also had best in dappled shade.
- Pineapples grow very happily in pots or tubs.
What pineapples don’t like is
- soggy, waterlogged soils,
- having their leaves burned with concentrated fertilisers,
- frost
Planting Pineapples
You can start several ways. most of the people will start using the highest of a store bought pineapple. If you recognize someone who grows pineapples you’ll even be ready to beg, steal or buy some “suckers”, “pups” or “slips”, little plantlets taken of a mature pineapple . (I will tell you more about those afterward .)
Don’t put the small thing during a glass of water. I don’t know where people get the thought that everything must be started during a glass of water. Really, that’s nonsense. within the case of pineapple tops it’s actually better to let it cure or dry for each day or two before planting.
If you employ tops confirm you remove all the fruit flesh. The stem that’s left must be bare, dry and clean. Shop bought pineapples may have already got a touch of rot therein stem. Cut it out if you’ll , and if not, use another top. I’ll say it again because it’s so important: the top of the stem should be dry! Leave your cleaned top on the bench for each day or two if needed.
You should also remove all the tiny bottom leaves. Just pull them off. an equivalent goes for suckers. If they’re very small or have dead leaves at rock bottom , pull rock bottom leaves off. you’ll find little roots growing in between them already.
Cutting the highest off a store-bought pineapple.
Pulling off rock bottom leaves.
Planting a pineapple top.
Push the soil back in and firm it round the base therefore the pineapple sits straight and doesn’t go over . If the soil is dry provides it some water.
And that’s it. It’ll grow.
How Much Space Do Pineapples Need?
The roots don’t need much space but the plant itself can grow to a powerful size.
Tall pineapplesMy late neighbour Henry behind a number of his pineapples.
Pineapple leaves are very spiky, so confirm you set them during a place where they will spread without becoming a nuisance.
They are nice to grow in clumps if you’ve got room, or as a (wide) border along paths or driveways.
Plant them at a distance of a few foot (that’s pretty close but it’s what I do anyway), and expect individual healthy plants to live up to a metre across and a metre high.
How Much Water Do Pineapples Need?
Basically, it doesn’t matter.
If you reside in a neighborhood where water is scarce just give them what you’ll spare. Pineapples grow with little or no water. confirm your soil is thickly mulched to scale back evaporation and consider growing pineapples under a touch of shade.
(This in fact depends on the climate you reside in. The closer to tropical or sub-tropical your area is, the more shade your pineapples can handle. If you reside during a climate where you’ve got to grow pineapples indoors during winter then they’re going to need all the sun they will get in summer.)
If you’ve got many water, great. It’s okay to always have water sitting within the rosette within the middle of the plant. Everything extra will just escape and drain away. But it’s a waste and you ought to avoid overwatering.
However, it’s important that excess water can drain away quickly. Don’t try growing them during a bog hole.
How Much And Which Plant Food?
Pineapples take up tons of their nutrition through their leaves, and therefore the first few months after planting they rely only on their leaves. you ought to confirm the fertilizer actually lands on the leaves.
If you employ artificial and concentrated fertilizers you’ll burn your pineapple, so stand back from them. you ought to stand back from them anyway. they typically do more harm than good.