Just thought I would post a pic of the pineapple top I planted. The fruit tasted heavenly! I planted it in a planter outdoors that has fast draining soil. It gets full sun in Ocean View Delaware. I hope the breeze and dryness doesn't harm it. I won't be back at my second home (where it is) until July. I hope it is a nice little plant versus a shriveled up plant when I come back. I will post a pic regardless in a few months!

T.J.

T.J.

Bromilads are succulents, but when rooting they need more water.
Well-draining soil is fine, but if a rooting/new plant is left unattended, I believe a little heavier soil should be added so it doesn't dry too fast.

Hopefully, it will rain, like most other states in the country.

If it roots, and you decide to pot, don't spend a lot of money. After fruiting, mom Bromiliads die.
Most Broms send out baby shoots, which can be detached w/roots from mom,, then repotted.
I don't know how it works with pineapples, unless it grows baby fruit, and the fruit is used as an offshoot.

I hope when you return, your Pineapple is a healthy, happy plant. Toni

I've also grown them in a bowl of water, out in my garden(which I let die in the winter)and in a regular soil/pot set up. The semi-hydro is the best.

They usually send out pups before or when they start to flower, the fruit takes a long time to mature and then then mother plant dies but the pups keep going. Plus you can start out a new one from the top of the fruit if it gets mature enough.

Danny

T.J.

Here's mine that I planted about three years ago...I got one pineapple after about a year and half and these two(twins) came from the original plant...not bad from "one" grocery store bought top. These two fruits came about a little over a year after I picked the first fruit.

You can see this has suffered from our few nights of winter freezes here and yet it keeps on growing. We hit several nights of low to mid 20's and all it suffered was some leaf burn. I do have it planted right next to a south wall of my house which I'm sure helped...but I didn't cover them.

Pick a fruit that still has leaves in the center. sometimes they get cut off at some point in the process of getting from the field to the store. A fruit that is mostly brown towards the top and yellowish(rather then greenish) towards the bottom is ripeist, Pineapples do not get any riper after they are picked but start to ferment, not sure if ferment is the right word but anyways, so if you wait to eat it they'll be more acidic but not sweeter.

Pug, your pineapple is soooo nice..WOW! The leaves look variegated?? Or is, what I'm seeing the angle of the sun, shining on the leaves?

Danny..your pineapple is huge! It is on steroids? lol..

I feel like running out and buying a pineapple..lol. Toni

The shelf above it is 3 feet high so I guess it's about 4 feet tall. Pineapples really need full sun and mine only gets about five hours a day so instead of flowering it keeps growing.

A 4' Pineapple is huge..Did you start it from a store-bought fruit or nursery?

The other day, our local grocery store had pineapples, 2 for 3.00. I don't care for their taste, but they sure make pretty plants. Toni

Also if it hasn't been mentioned yet, consider wearing gloves when preparing a pineapple top. The combination of spiny leave and bromelain or whatever it is incredibly bizarre feeling. It doesn't really hurt, but...

Bromelain acts as an anti-inflammatory if taken on an empty stomach, Not FDA approved for that use but in my personal experience, it works to some degree. Bromalain also comtains protein-digesting enzymes and is used in many meat tenderizers so if you get pineapple juice and/or sap from the plants(it is in the whole plant, not just the fruit) on your skin you are potentially are digesting your skin. It probably bothers some people more than others but it's more or less harmless.

Nursery plants are often treated with hormones, chemicals or ethylene gas to get them to flower at smaller sizes. It isn't how they naturally grow.

Also, amccour is right about the spikes. I often wear a full face shield to tend to my other plants near that thing so it doesn't harpoon me. learned that the hard way. . .

Think I had grilled pineapple, but that was long ago. It's not a bad-tasting fruit, just not my favorite.

Wearing gloves is a good idea. Pineapples are hard to cut. To be honest, it's been so long since I've purchased a pineapple, I don't recall how to cut. Is the core left on or a straight slice along the top?

Herbals are never FDA approved..Notice that? They want to sell high-cost meds..More than half that can make people sick, or worse.

This conversation reminds me of Seinfeld episode where George goes to an herbalist instead of the hospital, 'to save money.' He drinks an herb, and his fact turns orange. lol Toni

Herbals aren't FDA regulated for medical use because there is not a way to insure potency of the product. Plants grown in one part of the country will probably not be exactly the same as those grow in some other place. the sun will be different, weather will be different and so on. Some medicinal substances come from the environment the plants grow in and not just from the metabolism of the plant.

Extracts and derivatives from plants have been approved but if it can't be patented most of the "big pharmacy" corps usually won't bother with it because they can't get exclusive rights to it.

purpleinopp; Twist the top off rather than cut it. it'll be easier to clean up to plant.

Danny, what about herbal stores? Are they no different than Health/Vitamin shops?

It's better 'big pharmacy' corps don't bother with herbs. Prices would be sky high.

Yeah I agree with that!

I don't really know what you're asking about Herbal shops. The few I have had personal experience with were smaller local shops and one Chinese natural pharmacy (not counting Whole Foods). Its an issue of consistency, if your making a tea mix or grinding up the herbs then there is going to be some variation from batch to batch due to variation in conditions the plants went through during the growing season and strain/subspecies. Take for example ginseng. ginseng from China is a different species then the ginseng from Wisconsin or Michigan. more or less they can be used for the same thing but they're different. Even Wisconsin ginseng is different than Michigan ginseng because the growing conditions are not the same and even from one year to the next, one could have a high potency then the year before.

wait. . . weren't we talking about pineapples . . .

Danny

I still have to trim the frost burnt edges but I have to say I'm impressed with its growth. If anyone was wondering, it is a Valencia pineapple from Wal-Mart.

Happy holidays!
TJ

Take off whatever is left of the original head but leave the bottom end of it if it is still firm and if the pups do not have roots of their own yet.