How to plant this pineapple (W long white roots)

[mrsgreenthumbs]

I Missed the taste of fresh from the farm pineapple that I would eat until my toung would crack when I lived in Hawaii so I bought a couple pineapples pulled the top green part off peeled back the bottom leaves and stuch that puppy in some water. That was.... 3 or 4 weeks ago. Now it's got 5 LONG white root's dangling in the water and 3 or 4 new leaves. Should I plant it now? The root's look delicate how do I plant this without risking damage to the root's? Can I just add some food to the water for now? What kind of soil? Can it be in a large recycled nursery pot? Indoors or out? Sunny location or mottled sun? Any other tips would be great! thanks!

[applestar]

I'm very suspicious of water propagation anymore since I found out that water roots are different from soil roots. I peel off the excess leaves from the base of the pineapple top (if you get me) allow it to dry/callous for a couple of days, then nestle it into a sandy potting soil (it's a home made mix made with composted pine needles. I think of it as citrus/avocado type soil with extra sand) in a squat 6" pot. Being a bromeliad, I understand you don't want to use a pot that is too big with too much soil that holds excess moisture.

So far in my experience, after a season of growth, the top will sprout pups and eventually die out. I let the pups stay on the top and grow for a season and winter, then pot them up separately. I just uppotted 3 pups off one and 1 pup off another. (I recently posted their photo before they were uppotted)

In the future, even if you water propagate, I would pot them up after the roots have grown an inch or so for easier handling. For this one, I would prepare a pot with moist sandy potting mix, fill part way, then suspending the top over the pot and soil, lay the root on the soil and gently fill the rest of the way with loose moist soil mix. If the top is wobbly, stick a few chopsticks around the perimeter to support, being careful to avoid the roots.

I keep mine outside during the warmer months (basically over 60ºF though we've been having 50's low last few days) -- in a dappled shade for the first week or so after any new potting/uppotting, then move them gradually to a location that gets morning sun with shade from the noonday sun then few more hours of sun in the afternoon.