DENNIS PLANT GARDEN
Plant Care & Information
dennis Plant garden
reativity
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How to Grow
Pineapple Houseplants
from Pineapple Tops
PINEAPPLE PLANT
Ananas comosus
Photo Credit (C) Dennis Lee Brown 2017
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Pineapple Houseplants
Botanical Name: Ananas comosus
A little about the Pineapple - The pineapple, botanical Name: Ananas comosus is a tropical plant with an edible fruit, also called a pineapple, and the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae (Bromeliaceous). The pineapple is indigenous to South America, and cultivated for many centuries
Rooting and growing pineapple tops from the grocery market is an easy project. From your local grocery store, choose a mature pineapple that has healthy, firm, green leaves (not yellow or brown) and with a fruit skin that is golden brown (not too green). Choose a pineapple that is not to green nor over ripe. Once you bring your pineapple home, cut off the leafy top about half an inch below the leaves. Then remove some of the lowest leaves. Trim off the outer portion of the pineapple top at the bottom of the crown, or stem, until you see root buds. These should resemble small, brown-colored bumps around the stem’s perimeter. Allow the pineapple top to dry for several days to one week prior to planting. This helps the top to heal from the cutting, and discourages problems with rotting.
Purchase a fresh pineapple that you would to eat, make sure to choose one that’s evenly ripe, with a nice healthy set of green undamaged leaves at the top. Avoid pineapples that are overripe or that have dead or sick-looking (limp) leaves.
Pineapple Houseplant
Ananas comosus
Pineapple Houseplant
Ideal Preferences:
Water: Allow the soil to dry out between watering bromeliads. Be sure to thoroughly, emptying the drainage tray so the plant doesn’t stand in water.
Light: at least six hours a day of bright light. (NOT direct sunlight)
Temperature: One of the advantages of growing bromeliads is their tolerance of wide temperature ranges (35° F to 100° F). However, bromeliads will grow best between 55° F and 90° F.
Soil: Fill a 6” to 8” flower pot (clay is best, but any pot will do) with a light, fast-draining mixture – such as cactus potting mix – or a mixture of potting soil, peat moss, sand, and perlite. If you like, you can dip the end in rooting hormone before planting. Plant
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Fresh Pineapple
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Non-damaged Pineapple Crown
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Evenly Ripen Pineapple
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Firm Non-damaged Base
Flowers
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It can be very difficult to get bromeliads to bloom more than once. Each variety blooms according to specific factors:
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Day length, (Hours of sunlight)
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Humidity, (Amount of moisture in the air)
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temperature, (appropriate, ideal warmth)
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and care. (The plants specific care regiment)
To get your bromeliad to bloom again, research the specific needs of your variety. There’s some research suggesting that ethylene gas encourages bromeliads to bloom. To try it, enclose your bromeliad plant in a bag with several ripe apples for about 10 days starting 2-3 months before their normal bloom time.
Tops take at least 24 months to flower, and then it takes another six months for the fruit to mature. Suckers or pups are little plantlets that grow between the leaves of the mature pineapple. Several varieties will produce more suckers than others, some will start earlier in the season and others later. Leaving the suckers on the parent plant, you get what’s known as a "ratoon crop". That is the least amount of work for the next crop, just do nothing. But it has a few disadvantages.
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The plants start to crowd each other out and to compete for food, light, and water. As a result, the next lot of pineapple fruit is much smaller.
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Growing Problems: The main problems with bromeliads are due to using heavy soil. It is best to use an airy light soil and avoid overwatering, which can cause fungus and rot. Repot your plant every couple of years in a larger planter with fresh soil and plant food.
the pineapple crown about an inch deep, firmly press the soil around it. After a month or so, when you have lots of nice long roots (3″ or more), plant the crown in soil suitable for succulents and cacti.
Air Circulation: Bromeliads need air circulation. Use a small isolating fan to circulate the air. but keep them away from heater & cooling vents, and cold door & window drafts
Fertilizer: Most bromeliads don’t need a lot of fertilizer, although some varieties are heavier feeders than others. A little slow-release fertilizer mixed in the potting soil is usually enough. If you prefer to feed regularly, mix liquid fertilizer at about one-fourth the recommended dosage, and feed once a month during the growing season. GREEN THUMB TIP: Don’t feed bromeliads during the winter DORMANT.
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Flowers: It can be very difficult to get bromeliads to bloom more than once. Each variety blooms according to specific factors:
-
Day length, (Hours of sunlight)
-
Humidity, (Amount of moisture in the air)
-
temperature, (appropriate, ideal warmth)
-
and care. (The plants specific care regiment)
To get your bromeliad to bloom again, research the specific needs of your variety. There’s some research suggesting that ethylene gas encourages bromeliads to bloom. To try it, enclose your bromeliad plant in a bag with several ripe apples for about 10 days starting 2-3 months before their normal bloom time.
Soil: Fill a 6” to 8” flower pot (clay is best, but any pot will do) with a light, fast-draining mixture – such as cactus potting mix – or a mixture of potting soil, peat moss, sand, and perlite. If you like, you can dip the end in rooting hormone before planting. Plant the pineapple crown about an inch deep, firmly press the soil around it. After a month or so, when you have lots of nice long roots (3″ or more), plant the crown in soil suitable for succulents and cacti.
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Propagation: Some bromeliads die after they flower, but they send out offsets (or “pups”) pot them to propagate the plant. Wait until the offsets begin to mimic the parent plant (with a leaf cup and roots) before slicing them off with a sterile sharp knife, or cut away from the dead parent plant and leave the offsets in the original pot. Pineapple tops after they mature, will produce “PUPS” / “Suckers” (see Image 5)
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