Starting a pineapple crown in water . . . .

[Rose bloom]

Thanks, applestar.

[TheWaterbug]

Here's an update on my July 2012 plant . . .and its inflorescence:

One week's additional growth:

[Rose bloom]

WOW!

[TheWaterbug]

I potted two more crowns on Sunday (the water roots were about an inch long).

And here's a terrific video from Dole on propagation through suckers and slips in Costa Rica. It's interesting that they don't mention crowns in this video, while they say on their "growing pineapples" page that crowns are the "preferred" starter material in Hawaii. Maybe it depends on the cultivar and the location.

In any case, I'm in awe at the size of those suckers and slips. See at the 1:52 mark on that same video. They're way bigger than my mother plants! And 20x the size of any crown I've ever seen:



I read a link somewhere that recommended twisting suckers and slips off the mother plant when they get to about 20 cm long, so they don't compete with fruit development. Clearly Dole is doing something different. They let the seed material grow on the mother plant for awhile _after_ fruit harvest, and they even slash back some of the mother plant's foliage to stimulate growth on the little guys.

Returning to the subject of crowns, which is how I suspect most of us are getting started, I saw another video that suggested I should really strip the crowns much further up than I've been doing, to prevent rot at the leaf level. I just bought two more pineapples today, so I'm going to try that.

[Rose bloom]

Huh. Thanks for the link!

[TheWaterbug]

Returning to the subject of crowns, which is how I suspect most of us are getting started, I saw another video that suggested I should really strip the crowns much further up than I've been doing, to prevent rot at the leaf level. I just bought two more pineapples today, so I'm going to try that.

I had two tall crowns that started like the one on the right, and I stripped them both until they looked like the one on the left:



I put one in water, and that one rotted. I put the healthier one directly in potting soil, and it's still green. I don't know if has roots yet, since I can't peek, but it's still green and healthy, which makes me think this one's going to make it.

My yield on crowns-in-water has been _really_ low this year, with perhaps 2 out of 10 actually making it. I might switch to direct soil in the future.

[Rose bloom]

I've switched to direct soil, for now.

[TheWaterbug]

Here's my other pineapple, growing out of a surprisingly small plant (and pot):



and a closeup:

Ready to harvest!!!!

[imafan26]

Much better than mine it was tiny. I think I am not feeding it enough the plant itself is very big. My uncle says they need potassium and magnesium and to put the fertilizer between the leaves since they feed through their leaves.

[applestar]

I love it! Thanks for the update. Enjoy your patio-grown pineapple!

[Rose bloom]

gorgeous!

[TheWaterbug]

Ready to harvest!!!!

I ate it:



It was really good, though I think it might have sweetened up a little had I left it on a few more days and/or let it sit in the bowl for a day or two.

This is contrary to what Dole and other pineapple authorities publish, e.g. "Pineapples do not improve in flavor after picking because the starch to sugar conversion happens only while the fruit is attached," but from my empirical "testing" over the last 3 years, pineapples do get sweeter and/or less acid as they age.

This guy seems to agree with me (PDF):

The reason for leaving it in the refrigerator overnight is that the diced sections will release their acidic juices that make the pineapple sour and that attack your lips and the linings of the mouth. This is why it is important to cut across the veins when dicing, so that the juices can flow out. It appears that, after the acids flow out, these acids either react with the air or undergo some kind of aging process and are neutralized, and the whole bowl of fruit becomes sweeter.

I need to do some sort of controlled testing on this theory. Maybe a pool acid pH tester would help, and/or some sort of sugar meter.

I have refractometer that I use for testing honey; I wonder if that would tell me anything.