What quality pineapple will a 2nd generation top produce?

[bbates123]

I just harvested my first pineapple from a store bought pineapple top.  It's obviously much much smaller than the original pineapple (4.5 inches) with a really nice healthy looking top.  If I re-plant this top will the fruit be even smaller than the fruit I just harvested?  Will the fruit keep getting smaller and smaller the more you re-plant successive generations of tops?

[Galka]

No. I started my pineapples from store bought tops 7 years ago. They were not much smaller and I had big pineapples from the same plant next year and next. The mother plant will produce new plants and they will give you normal size fruit. Some of my pineapples were smaller this year but they were the sweetest and since I have many of them I don't mind.

[pineislander]

Pineapples are heavy feeders so to get big ones you have to "pump them up".

[bbates123]

Thanks much!  I'll re-plant the new top and wait a few more years.    BTW my homegrown pineapple was absolutely the sweetest most flavorful pineapple I've ever eaten...fantastic!

[TheWaterbug]

Will the fruit keep getting smaller and smaller the more you re-plant successive generations of tops?

No. As mentioned by others, every time you plant a crown you "reset" the clock. But you also reset it to zero, and crowns take a long time to fruit.

Did your mother plant grow any suckers or slips? Those will fruit much faster than will a crown.

I'm still lacking data on whether a sucker or slip [growing off the mother plant] will grow a fruit as big as its mother plant, and whether it's better to twist off an re-plant suckers and slips, or whether to just let them grow in place. I have a mother plant growing two large side-suckers right now; I'm tempted to run a little science experiment to see how they do.

[FamilyJ]

Also depends on variety some get fruit within a year some take 18 months some longer, depends on how you grow also with weather since that also has a factor

[jako9403]

Industrial pineapples/Grocery store won’t leave a fantastic pineapple. I’d say go for some heirloom varieties.