Advice on a pineapple plant?

[travisa1989]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum. I did a little bit of searching and found a lot of useful info and interesting photos of the endeavors of other pineapple growers. I have a few questions of my own, if there is anyone out there who might be able to help me.

So I've attempted this about 15 times in my life; cut off the top of a store-bought pineapple, trim down the leaves, cut the bottom a little bit to expose where roots are to form, and then submerge it into a glass of water, change the water daily to avoid too much mold formation, and wait to see roots. I figured it would never work, but I recall my grandmother telling me once when I was a child that she had done it. Anyway, to my utter amazement, I saw roots growing so I planted it in soil.
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I set it out on my back porch in a sunny spot (I live just a few miles east of D.C. on the Maryland side) , and for a while nothing happened. I had mostly forgotten about it and was about to throw it away when I saw two little buds growing off the side.


I left it out on my back porch all summer long, and it got almost continuous direct sunlight. It was looking like this

Well, now that it is winter, I've moved it inside and set it in a bathroom that is always bright and sunny. I don't expect a whole lot of growth, but at least it will live. Here is a more current picture, with my buddy posing in the background. As you can see, I have removed the original main stalk that was in the center because I figured that it had served its purpose.

So, I have a few concerns:

1) Should I separate these two pineapple plants? I've been wanting to, but I fear damaging them and they seem to have been doing fine thus far. Once spring rolls around, if I keep them conjoined, I plan on putting them in a way bigger pot and putting them back out into their sunny, warm spot.

2) Do you think it would be beneficial to shine a couple of high powered CFLs on my pineapple plants at night after the sun has gone down? Here in DC, the sun has been going down around 4:345 to 5 pm lately, I'd say.

Obviously the goal is to maximize yield and minimize time, but I've been wanting to successfully do this for such a long time that simply producing a pineapple will make me happy.

Thanks in advance for any advice everyone. I'm new here, and and started avidly gardening vegetables in my backyard about three years ago and now I'm hooked. If my partner would let me, every inch of our yard would be covered in fruit and vegetable plants.

[applestar]

Welcome to the forum!
Your pineapple pups are doing really great!

I would definitely supplement with CFL's -- 26W or higher in a 10" reflector utility light or T-8 or T-5 fluorescent tubes of daylight 6500K is what I use for all my Winter Indoor plants. The bulbs should only be about 4 inches away max if possible, though if they get direct, mostly unobstructed sunlight (open curtains, blinds, etc. And insect screen removed if possible) then there will be some leeway.

I either have them on timer for 16 hours or loosely just turn on the lights in the morning and turn them off at night when I go to bed. The longer time compensates for less brightness compared to full day sun in the summer outside.

Be careful not to overwater and put filtered water in the cups. I guess in the bathroom, there would be more humidity than rest of the house. I mist mine (almost) every day with a spray bottle of filtered water, and use a humidity tray underneath (large metal pet feeder pan of water and the pineapple pot on an upside down pot saucer riser above water level)

I would separate them by cutting down the middle of the core of the original top and potting them up separately in late spring when it's warm enough to put them outside.

[Renato Teodoro]

Greetings,

I have never grown pineapples, but as I live in Brazil, I have access to some information, since we are great producers.

I found some things about them: They don't tolerate temperatures below 18ºC, they like high level of moist in the air and the pH of the soil shoud be between 4,5 - 5,5.

Congratulations on your plant.

[imafan26]

Pineapples are bromeliads. They like water and fertilizer in the cups and they will flower only once. The top should have been able to last longer but the pups will take about 18-24 months to produce a pineapple. Depending on the variety they can be big or really big. Mine will grow to be about 2-1/2 ft tall. They do like to be in the sun so the more light you can shine on it the better. My uncle used to give them sul-po-mag and K-mag fertilizer.

[PunkRotten]

I have one and it is putting out a pup right now. I keep it outdoors. I read they don't like too much water despite being tropical. And they prefer foliar feedings because they have small crappy roots.

[imafan26]

Actually the roots of a bromeliad are fibrous and more for support than for gathering nutrients. I have grown pineapple and bromeliads for that matter without them even being in the ground. I still have a pineapple in a 6 inch pot and it is not in the ground. The most important thing for me is for the plants to just stay upright so they don't grow twisted. Bromeliads can tolerate a little bit of dryness, they do like to be watered in the cups, but they do not need to have the water sit there indefinitely. Because of their moist nature I do like to water my bromeliads everyday just to keep the water from standing in the cups because here standing water breeds mosquitoes in no time. A little dishwashing soap, bleach. or Bt in the cups helps control that. They do not like to sit in standing water especially around the base of the plant and they don't really like to be in the shade although they will grow in the shade.

The pineapple that you buy in the market is a hybrid, bred for low acidity and a more compact plant.

If you go to Dole plantation on Oahu they keep a demonstration stand of pineapple cultivars from around the world. A few of them were used to breed the current stock of pineapple. Dole has a sugar loaf, but their pineapple plant is twice the size of the Del Monte Gold pineapple plants grown by their rivals before the company lost the lease on the land.

They grow pineapple usually in the upper lands where there is lots of sunshine but a daily sprinkle would be normal. They like humidity, so some misting probably won't hurt it either if you live in a dry air climate.

[TheWaterbug]

I have one and it is putting out a pup right now. I keep it outdoors. I read they don't like too much water despite being tropical. And they prefer foliar feedings because they have small crappy roots.

I keep reading this factoid, but after harvesting my first home-grown pineapple I pulled the plant out of its pot and saw this:



They don't look that small to me.