How To Grow A Pineapple Plant From The Top

If you like eating pineapples, pick one up next time you go grocery shopping, and use it to grow your own pineapple plant. Yes, you read that right. You can grow a pineapple at home by using the leafy top of the fruit.

But, before we explain how you can do this, let’s look at some basic facts about pineapples.

• Pineapple (Ananas comosus) belongs to the family Bromeliaceae. It’s a healthy, juicy tropical fruit that is native to South America, and it has been used in cuisines all over the world for a long time.
• This fruit is consumed fresh, grilled, or baked, and it is used as the main ingredient in many vegetables, meat, rice, fish dishes and baked desserts.
• The most common cultivar of pineapple is Smooth Cayenne. It’s a spineless Hawaiian variety that is characterized by striped leaves, orange rind, and yellow, low-fibre flesh.
• The leaves and roots of pineapple can absorb nutrients and water.
• Pineapple is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is believed to offer various health benefits, such as improving the digestive and immune systems, reducing inflammation, decreasing the risk of cancer, and alleviating symptoms of arthritis. (1)

How To Grow A Pineapple Plant From The Top

Step 1: Choose A Healthy, Ripe Pineapple

Pick a fresh and ripe pineapple that has healthy, green leaves. Avoid pineapples that have brown or grey leaves or that appear overripe. The gold colour at the base of the fruit shows its ripeness. When the fruit is overripe, it’s orange, and it smells like fermented fruit.

Step 2: Remove The Top

Using a knife, cut off the top of the pineapple approximately 1.5 centimetres below the leaves.

Trim off the rind at the bottom of the crown until the root buds begin to appear.

Then, remove the remaining fruit flesh. Not cutting away the fruit flesh will cause the crown to rot.

Step 3: Peel Off Leaves

Gently remove the lowest leaves from the pineapple crown. The small brown dots that will appear are where new roots will grow from.

Step 4: Let Stalk Dry

Before you plant the pineapple crown, let it dry for a couple of days. This will prevent it from rotting.

Step 5: Plant Stalk In Potting Mix

Although some people prefer to root a pineapple in water, planting it in soil appears more effective. So, fill a 15- to 20-centimetre clay pot with a mixture of sand, peat, and perlite or cactus potting mix. Whatever mixture you choose to use, make sure it’s organic, light, and drains quickly.

Put the pineapple stalk in the soil at a depth of about 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) and carefully firm the soil around it.

Step 6: Water Stalk

Using a spray bottle, lightly water the plant when you notice that the soil around it is dry. Make sure you keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy.

Place the pot in a spot where it’ll be exposed to bright, indirect light.

Step 7: Wait For Pineapple To Grow Roots

It usually takes around three months for roots to grow. You can check if the pineapple is beginning to root by carefully tugging on the stalk to see the roots. If you can notice signs of root growth, you can begin giving the pineapple more light.

Step 8: Repot Plant

When the pineapple has grown firm roots, you’ll notice new leaf growth from the centre. When this happens, your pineapple is ready to be repotted in a 25- to the 30-centimetre pot, again using a potting mix that drains well.

You can move your pineapple to a 5-gallon planter after approximately one year. (2)

How Many Years Does It Take To Grow A Pineapple?

A pineapple plant takes at least two to three years to begin flowering and producing fruit, provided that there are optimum growing conditions.

First of all, the leafy top of the fruit needs to be grown into a houseplant. It takes about two years to mature.

Then, the fruit will send up a stem which will produce fruit gradually.

Some pineapple plants that are grown indoors don’t flower or bear fruit. However, they can grow up to 72 inches tall. And other pineapple plants stay quite small if the pot is not large enough or light levels are inadequate.

Pineapple Plant Care Tips

• Light

Pineapple plants require 6 to 8 hours of bright, indirect light.

• Temperatures

Pineapples can tolerate a partial shade, but not cold temperatures. They don’t grow in temperatures below 15.5 degrees Celsius and above 32 degrees Celsius. So, keep your pineapple indoors in the winter. It’s best to place it near a south-facing window.

• Water

Pineapple plants prefer consistently moist soil. So, water your pineapple when you notice the soil around it has become dry. Make sure you don’t overwater the plant as this can cause it to die.

If you notice any yellow or brown leaves on the plant as a result of underwatering or overwatering, just cut them away. However, if the middle of the pineapple turns brown, the chances are that the whole plant is ruined.

• Fertilizer

A pineapple plant should be fertilized with a soluble, organic fertilizer once a month during spring and summer.

Pineapple Blooming

A pineapple plant takes two to three years to produce flowers or fruit. However, you can encourage blooming by exposing the pineapple to ethylene gas. Just grab a few overripe apples, place them close to the pineapple, and cover them with plastic. Keep your pineapple plant this way for a couple of weeks during the winter.

Pineapple Harvest

When your pineapple blooms, it takes several months for it to produce fruit. As soon as the pineapples turn golden yellow and become ripe, they’re ready to be collected.

How Many Times Can A Pineapple Plant Yield Fruit?

A pineapple plant can produce fruit only three times. Then the plant needs to be replaced.

The “mother plant” of the pineapple produces one fruit, and then it dies. However, it produces suckers while it’s blooming and fruiting. Large suckers continue to grow and yield new fruit over time.

How To Grow A Pineapple Top In Water

First of all, take a fresh and ripe pineapple and slice off the top of the fruit. Then, remove the rind at the bottom of the stalk as well as any remaining fruit flesh. Next, peel off the lowest leaves from the stalk of the pineapple and let it dry for a couple of days.

Fill a mason jar with warm water and place the stalk in it. Make sure that just the part that does not have leaves is submerged in the water.

While you’re waiting for the crown to start rooting, ensure that it’s not exposed to direct sunlight.

The water in the jar needs to stay fresh and clean, so change it every other day.

Some of the leaves may turn brown or even dry, but this is nothing to worry about.

If the stalk of the pineapple dries out, use another pineapple.

It’ll take about a month for the stalk to grow long roots, and once it’s rooted, you can plant it in a mixture of sand, peat, and perlite or cactus potting mix. Then, you just need to follow the steps explained above.

Conclusion

Pineapple is a healthy and juicy tropical fruit that belongs to the family Bromeliaceae. The most common variety of pineapple is Smooth Cayenne, which is known for its orange rind, striped leaves, and low-fiber flesh. Pineapples are loaded with important nutrients, and they offer a variety of health benefits.

Growing a pineapple plant from the top is easy. To do this, you need to follow these steps:

• Pick a healthy, fresh, and ripe pineapple and remove the leafy top.
• Remove the rind at the bottom of the crown and the remaining flesh.
• Carefully peel off the lowest leaves from the stalk of the pineapple.
• Let the stalk dry for a couple of days.
• Plant the crown in an organic potting mix at a depth of about 2.5 centimeters in a 15- to a 20-centimeter clay pot.
• Keep the soil consistently moist, but don’t let it become soggy.
• It typically takes approximately three months for roots to grow.
• Once the pineapple has rooted and new leaves start growing, repot the plant in a 25- to the 30-centimetre pot, in an organic potting mix that drains well.
• Move the pineapple to a 5-gallon planter after around one year.
• It takes two to three years for a pineapple plant to start flowering and yielding fruit.
• Pineapple plants should be fertilized once a month during spring and summer with organic fertilizer.
• A pineapple plant can yield fruit only three times. The “mother plant” produces just one fruit and suckers while it’s blooming and producing fruit.

Learn how to grow a pineapple plant from the top at home by following these eight simple steps.