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Rose bloom wrote:Briar, Prince, and Maleficent are doing nicely.

I named my "Clyde." Then I ate him.

the pineapple, right, not the plant? Why Clyde, though?

I ate Clyde, the fruit, after twisting his crown off. His crown is sitting in a jar of water on my kitchen counter.

His mother plant is still in the pot, awaiting her dismemberment

There are 3 suckers growing out of the main plant stem. I need to twist/cut them off and root them.

There are 3 suckers growing out of the ground. One is quite large, and the other two are smaller. I'm thinking I should leave the biggest one intact for a "ratoon crop" and twist/cut off the other two for rooting.

But I also need to transplant the remaining ratoon because the pot is just way too small, so I might take that as an opportunity to examine the root system. I keep reading that pineapples have tiny root systems, and I'm curious to see just how tiny.

Cool! Good luck

I moved one of my pineapples to where it gets more sun and water, and It looks like the flower spike may be coming up. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have had pineapples, but because most of them are growing in the weeds, they have only been pint sized and by the time I find them, long gone.

how exciting! I hope mine is like yours. If it doesnt flower by one year later(already2 years old) I will force it. Hopefully, its big enough by then to flower naturally.

Everyone's comments are reminding me that I was going to feed mine aggressively this year. It's almost time to start since the days are getting longer and temperature a little warmer -- my avocados and peppers are starting to wake up and unfold their leaf buds (overwintered peppers are tryi to bloom already), so I think I should assume that the pineapples are too.

Cool! Post pics, too.

I finally got around to taking a picture of my pineapple in bloom

Do you know what variety you have? The leaves look like those of my tiny Sugarloaf plants that I bought online.

@imafan that is gorgeous! And you get to eat it, too?

This is Del Monte Gold. I also have a Dole variety my uncle called Sugarloaf. They are both low acid pineapples. I kinda miss the old varieties, the low acid ones are sweet but bland.

I have had pineapples before but most of them were very small since, I did not feed them and they kind of were growing wild. My uncle told be to give it sul-po-mag. I can't really find that so I am using my usual citrus food. I think having it out in the sun more with regular water and any kind of plant food is better than nothing.

This is actually planted in a six inch pot. Bromeliads like to be watered and fertilized in the cups and the roots are more for support. I water and feed the leaves.

Mine, Briar, Prince, and Maleficent are turning yellow. (Blushing) I think I need to feed them more magnesium.

Whyyyyy. My pineapples still haven't flowered.

TheWaterbug wrote:But I also need to transplant the remaining ratoon because the pot is just way too small, so I might take that as an opportunity to examine the root system. I keep reading that pineapples have tiny root systems, and I'm curious to see just how tiny.

Way back in October of 2015 I pulled Clyde's plant out of its undersized pot to look at its root system. It's not as small as advertised! The plant was completely rootbound:



I transplanted it into one of my many 19" clay pots from Home Depot, and it's doing well. In fact the ratoon just started flowering a few weeks ago:

I'm so jealous. I transplanted all the plants into pots a few months ago, and their growth has skyrocketed! They've grown more than an inch since July. I think it was the poor soil that stunted them for the years they were growing. Hopefully I can get a flower this year or the next! The oldest is something like 3 years old now I believe.

Somebody please tell me this is what I think it is!

I was a little worried because this stage when the inflorescence emerges is called "red heart" due to its red color, but today, it's obvious that the bracts are beginning to color up as they should

Looking good, it will still be a few months before it matures.

Thats OK, in fact, better -- since it won't be warm enough for this one and the three other smaller plants to go outside until May, and I imagine pineapple will taste better if grown in the warmer weeks-months outside. With any luck, this one's fruit will be fully grown and ready to mature/ripen during the hottest part of the summer... (?)

...and the pineapple this morning... the base caliper of the plant is probably about 2 inches or a bit more. Some people -- maybe waterbug? -- have reported 2" is about when they are mature enough -- especially useful in the north where they don't get to grow steadily due to the 7 cold months interruption and the typical 18 moth - 24 mo. "Time frame" becomes somewhat meaningless/obscure....

Sounds about right. It depends on variety. The dole pineapple is a large plant that is over three feet tall but the Del Monte Gold is a more compact plant. They both mature at about 18 months of age. They need a lot of water for the fruit or the fruit will be small.

Pineapple progression so far

Baby Update

(tell me if I'm posting these too frequently and you are tired of watching paint dry )



I hope someone can tell me -- at this point, does it look like the flower stalk is too elongated? Should I put this plant under brighter light? (Not easy to do right now, but I will attempt if it seems necessary.)

It looks fine. It still has a bit of growing to do. The flowers have not bloomed yet. It is one of those plants that can take 4-6 months for the flower to bloom. the flowers will come out from the sides and are quite small. They don't last very long but the fruit usually does not start sizing up until after that. I did not give mine enough water or fertilizer so my fruit was not very big, but I had a neighbor whol had a couple of nice size pineapples in his front yard. It is not unusual for the stalk to bend from the weight over time, it usually still turns out fine. It is better not to move it since the natural bend does not hurt it but if it kinks from moving, that is another story. Remember to water in the cups. My uncle says they like sul-po-mag.

https://www.hawaiilife.com/articles/2011 ... pineapple/

Thanks @Imafan!

"Baby" is starting to grow "hair"

Sure looks like and is about the size of a pinecone right now....

OK, HOLD ON! I was zooming in to look closer at this baby and noticed those purplish tips on some of the lower bumps -- are those the flower buds unfolding????!!!!

Hmmm.... I think judging by this photo, my pineapple fruit is going to be pretty small (I'm looking at the number of bumps on the fruit, which will expand for form the classic pineapple structure)

How To Grow Pineapples? Growing Pineapples Is Ridiculously Easy
https://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/gro ... pples.html

...but I'm still excited! Can't wait -- according to the article, it will be another 6 months, just like imafan said.

So jealous

I hope yours blooms this year

Baby Pineapple Update

Wow! About how big is the pineapple?

That's about how big mine got. Next time on the offsets from this pineapple more potassium and a little espom salt fed through the leaves. Feed pineapple and bromeliads in the cups they absorb nutrients and water from water collected in the cups and they respond well to foliar feeding on the green parts of the plant.
Be aware that the fertilizer requirements for Hawaii are different than for other soils. Our soils are high in aluminum and that binds phosphorus, so higher applications of phosphorus are usually required.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/f_n-7.pdf

Rose Bloom -- Are you asking about the size of the entire plant? I can measure later today. It's a bit difficult to get to because it's still inside with some other plants. The fruit was as shown with ruler next to it back then. I could photo it again today and see if has grown any bigger....

Imafan -- I've been trying to be diligent about putting slightly nutritious liquid in the cup, including putting frozen banana skins in the watering jug, though I don't know if it still helps or if you need to "fatten up" the plant BEFORE it sends up the flower spike. I gave it the water from rinsing some squash seeds for saving the other day. I guess I will give it some Epsom salted water tomorrow. I already watered it today -- from a jug of water with UCG and hard boiled eggshells in it.

It went down to 48°F last night. Do you think it's still too cold to let it go outside?

Forty eight is colder than it would like, but we do get to 51 in winter and Wahiawa would get into the forties in winter where there used to be pineapple fields. Actually my house was built on an old Dole pineapple field. I don't know if the fruit would like it that cold. Maybe wait a little longer.

I FINALLY put the baby Pineapple outside today. I have other plants still inside, hanging on, but not happy.

Pineapple will stay here on the layover picnic table in the dense shade of the mulberry and will be acclimated before it will be put somewhere more appropriate.