Is this pineapple going to be big enough to bloom next year?

[Rose bloom]

It's nearly a year old. Fellow pineapple died of heart rot. I would have attached pics, but apparently the file is too big.

[Juliuskitty]

Mine will have a bloom when the leaves get to be about 4' in diameter.

[imafan26]

Pineapple from a crown takes me anywhere from 9 to 18 months. Some varieties of pineapple are huge bromeliads and others are more compact, so it also depends on your cultivar.

[Rose bloom]

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Here's a pic. Applestar helped a lot. I would say the leaves are about one foot long and one inch wide. It's a hefty little pineapple for sure.

[Rose bloom]

I think it's about one foot tall. It's loving our hot California weather, almost one hundred degrees today and yesterday. Just three weeks ago, it was fluctuating between 99 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. bad for me, but good for the pineapple. Before, the leaves were kinda yellowish.

[imafan26]

Feed the pineapple potassium and magnesium. Put the fertilizer in the leaf axils and water the leaves.

[Rose bloom]

Thanks.

[Rose bloom]

I'll try to give it some more magnesium.

[Rose bloom]

I think it may soon bloom, but I'm not counting my chicks yet.

[Rose bloom]

I don't think it will bloom. Maybe soon, but not now.

[TheWaterbug]

I would say the leaves are about one foot long and one inch wide. It's a hefty little pineapple for sure.

The leaves on my fruiting pineapple plant are quite a bit larger than 1" x 1'. At their bases they're probably 2" wide, and the longest ones are probably almost 2' long. So I will guess that yours will need quite a bit more time before it will bloom.

I have some pineapple crowns planted in pots and some in my garden dirt, and the ones in the pots are doing 100x better than the ones in the dirt. I think this is because my garden has heavy clay soil, and the pineapples don't like it. The pots are filled with E.B. Stone cactus mix, which is hideously expensive, but the pineapples seem to like it.

I water them thoroughly once every 5-7 days, depending on when I remember to do it and how hot it is. They don't seem to need that much water.

I fertilize them once every 2-3 months, with Liquinox Grow (10-10-5, 2 capfuls in my watering can) depending on when I remember.

Since you're in Arcadia you're in a similar climate to mine, except perhaps 5-10 degrees warmer, so yours should do well as long as they have well-drained soil and appropriate water.

They seem to like full sun, as my fruiting plant is several months younger than another one that's larger and in a larger pot, but hasn't fruited yet.

So keep your fingers crossed! I would also recommend eating more pineapples and planting more crowns. I was very stressed about my one pineapple crown until I added 4-5 more. Now I can watch them all grow and not feel so much stress.

[Rose bloom]

I planted three and plan on planting more. It should bloom next year, though, right? And also, I planted this last year in November, so it hasn't gotten a lot of growth done. I know I should have waited, but I was just too excited. the original crown was tiny, so this pineapple had to start from nearly scratch. heh, heh, hehheh.

[imafan26]

Pineapple takes about 18 months to mature. The peak bloom is in summer. The first pineapples from the crowns are usually smaller than pineapples from offsets.

The size of the leaf may not matter because there are different varieties of pineapple. Dole pineapple has huge leaves while Del Monte Gold has a more compact plant. African varieties also have long leaves.

Dole has a display garden of different pineapple varieties from around the globe in Wahiawa.

[Rose bloom]

Six more months, then. Or about.....

[Rose bloom]

I'm so impatient!

[TheWaterbug]

Pineapple takes about 18 months to mature. The peak bloom is in summer. The first pineapples from the crowns are usually smaller than pineapples from offsets.

Have you seen a difference in fruit size between suckers and rattoons?

What's the correct way to pull a sucker off the main plant? And when?

Thanks!

[Rose bloom]

The pineapple plants is growing, I n c h b y I n c h I'm so impatient!!

[TheWaterbug]

If you look at it every day it's going to be a loooooong year!

[Rose bloom]

Haahaaa... Very funny, Waterbug.

[TheWaterbug]

Haahaaa... Very funny, Waterbug.

You looked again this morning, didn't you?

[Rose bloom]

Yes!

[Rose bloom]

hehehehee......

[Rose bloom]

My other pineapple plant

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The famous pineapple this thread is about!

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My famous pineapple has grown a bit, but I suspect it's hindered from the coldish weather and hungry for fertilizer.

[imafan26]

They are bromeliads so the offsets come off pretty easily, they just need to be pulled off. My pineapple are forming now. One may be overripe. It was buried in the weeds so I haven't seen it for a few months. I don't take very good care of mine so they are always small. It is is a 6 inch pot and should probably be in the ground instead.

[Rose bloom]

Would pineapples grow better in a pot or in the ground? I'm thinking maybe a pot, since everyone has had good luck with that, but I don't want to disturb its roots. Thoughts?

[TheWaterbug]

All of mine in pots are doing well. All of mine in the ground are doing poorly.

I think the difference is drainage. My native soil is heavy clay, and even heavily amended it dries into a rock-like mud.

I filled my pots with an expensive cactus mix, and it's always well-drained and loose.

[Rose bloom]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure my soil is NOT clay, more between silt and loam. there's a pinch of sand in there, which is probably why I'm able to grow aloe there. The yard is spread unevenly: some with extra sand, loam, or silt. Oh, and compost too.

[Rose bloom]

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I planted another top yesterday, about or nearly one foot. I chose it specifically because the crown was so tall. Also because it was nearing overripe. Dang it, it's sideways. Oh well.

[imafan26]

it depends on the variety of pineapple. Some of them can be compact, but most of the Dole pineapples are large plants with leaves that get close to 24 inches. Pineapple takes about 18- 24 months from planting to harvest. The pups usually come out first on the sides before the pineapple. In colder climates it may take longer to get there. Peak season here is in the summer. It can still take months for the pineapple to mature once it blooms.

Pineapples can be grown in pots or in the ground. They are a bromeliad so treat them the same way. They like full sun and they like to be watered and fertilized in the cups. My uncle told me to use Sul-po-Mag, they apparently like the micros. Liquid fertilizers are o.k. just water in the cups. The bromeliads do spike out and take up a lot of room up top, but they have fine roots that basically are there just to keep the plant upright.

[Rose bloom]

Ok, thanks.

[Rose bloom]

That pineapple got heart rot. Miraculously, it's hanging onto life. The other famous pineapple (maybe I should give it a name, so you won't be confused) is grumpy, so I've been building it a greenhouse thingy. It's kinda like this. | | || those are the posts and there's going to be a plastic cover on top. I read in applestar's minimum temps thread pineapples go dormant at about 70 degrees, which it's been nearing these days, so I built it. Hopefully it provides enough heat and humidity for the winter Ian's to get them growing. Could this work? I spent zero money on this the posts are mine, and the plastic is mine, so it doesn't really matter if it doesn't work. I'll just use it for other things. Possible umbrella?

[Rose bloom]

Oh yeah, and how about a name for my famous pineapple?

[TheWaterbug]

Spike!

[Rose bloom]

Hmm.... Patience.? Because you have to be patient

[applestar]

Briar Rose -- aka Sleeping Beauty

[imafan26]

Pineapples take about 18 months to mature. The leaf size depends on the variety. My Del Monte gold is a short variety while the Dole is 3 times the size. It just had a pineapple, but I don't take very good care of mine. The leaves on the Dole are almost three feet high and my pineapple was a juicer about 4 inches long. It should have been a lot bigger, but I did not feed it and it was buried under a mass of weeds and other plants.

[applestar]

One of my pineapple tops got what I assume is what rose bloom said -- heart rot.

As it died, it produced 3 strong pups (and one runt that didn't make it) so don't give up on that plant too soon.

[Rose bloom]

Well, it's not very established, so I don't think it'll produce pups.

[Rose bloom]

The heart rot affected pineapple died.

[Rose bloom]

Ok, who wants Spike, Briar rose, or patience. Or come up with a better one.