i've got about 30 pineapple plants in various stages of development in
3 - 5 gallon pots along my fence in my backyard. pineapples can be propagated by seed (done mostly by research stations in hybridization experiments, seeds are planted in a sterile gelatinous mix, orchid growers should be familiar with this medium), however it might not be worth the effort. most pineapples are propagated by replanting the crown (the green leafy top of the fruit), slips (green leafy part growing from under the fruit of a mature/maturing plant), and/or suckers (green leafy part growing from various parts of the main plant)...in hawaii these are generally referred to as keiki (children). these will be exact clones of the mother plant, so if you have a good plant, it and its offsprings are keepers. be cautious or wear gloves/hand/arm protection when cutting the keiki off of the main plant as the leaves of the plant are serrated along the edges towards the tips, although they may not cut your skin, they do hurt and watch your eyes as the leaf ends of the plant are rigid and pointed (don't want to poke your eyes out if you have a large plant). plant the keiki in about a half inch to an inch or so of soil and keep moist, don't drown them too much as rotting may occur (root rot or plant rot) but keep in mind that the plant is pretty hardy and rooting occurs pretty easily (and i've tried it in all types of soil from sand to clay). from a mature plant you should get on average 4 to 6 keiki, more or less. fruiting will occur in approximately 2 years. just before fruiting, the plant should turn in color from a deep green to a yellow-green, the middle of the plant (the basket) will turn reddish, and in a few days a fuzzy red ball will be seen protruding in the basket - this is the pineapple flower/fruit. as the fruit developes and matures, it will turn from a fuzzy red ball to a green pineapple. although i've heard of and experimented with many tales of when to harvest, i've found none to be true. what i do is observe the scent of the fruit and it's color, harvesting when its bright yellow with a just hint of or no sign of green and a very sweet, slightly acidic smell being emitted from the fruit. i generally start removing the keiki after i've picked the fruit, leaving one keiki along with the main plant. once the main plant fruits, it will no longer fruit which is why i leave one keiki with the main plant from which if remove the old leaves and remaining stalk since these are now useless. likewise, if you prefer a larger fruit, you must remove the keiki from the main plant or you will eventually have a large plant with many small fruits (this is referred to as sugar pine, due to its smaller size it is sweeter due to its sugar concentration but its a pain peeling many small pineapples). another thing, the plant produces the sugar, not the fruit (like sweet corn) so pick the fruit when you are ready to eat it, don't let it hang around for a few days as sugar loss is occuring. i fertilize the pots about 4 to 6 months on average with a high nitrogen fertilizer since this is a "green" plant. when the plant starts turning color (yellow) then i fertilize once with a low nitrogen, high/higher potassium fertilizer or 16-16-16 (depends on what i have on hand, i'm not that picky) fertilizer. i can't say much about frost/snow/cold effects on the plant as i'm in hawaii. and if you want to know why i plant these in pots, its because i'm always moving them around, depending on the season as the sun moves, which i forgot to mention, pineapples like sun!- Vote on answer
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20 years ago