Author Topic: several pineapple questions (Read 9099 times)

Zafra · « **on:** October 05, 2015, 11:01:03 PM »

Hi all. I've never grown pineapple before and I want to get started with some tops from pineapples we're eating. I'd appreciate any advice about rooting the tops, first of all, because I've had a couple of failures. But also, one fruit we have has the regular top on it, but then in a ring around the top are what appears to be a whole bunch of tiny tops - very cute. Can I try to root those as separate plants? I can find no mention of these tiny tops anywhere online. Thanks in advance!

Don · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2015, 05:22:10 AM »

There are several different ways people on this forum do it from sitting in a jar of water till roots form to just putting it straight in a pot of dirt like I have. Works for me.
Don.

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2015, 06:52:52 AM »

After about 50% yield on 50 attempts I have had success and failure with both dirt and water and with both waiting and with immediate planting. I'm becoming convinced that the condition of the propagule is more important than the method.

My latest fruit also had the small ring of "crownlets" below the crown.

Here they are, along with the main crown and two suckers from the plant. I left the ratoon sucker in the ground.

From the sea · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2015, 07:39:47 AM »

Water bug is 100% right, the better the top the less likely it is to rot. I don't get tops that the leaves pull out of, they seem to rot more often.

Zafra · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2015, 07:45:53 AM »

Great so far so good - looks like you can try to plant all those baby tops so I'll give it a go. Now Waterbug, can you tell me what is the "ratoon sucker" that you left in the ground? I assume it's attached to the mother plant, so are you just leaving the mother plant in the ground and part of it will live, or how does that work? I'm trying to envision getting some decent production going in the future and what that looks like...
Thanks!

From the sea · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2015, 07:52:57 AM »

Ratoon suckers are the ones that come up from under ground, and give a better fruit. Slips are the plants that come from under the fruit.

PR-Giants · « **Reply #6 on:** October 06, 2015, 08:14:27 AM »

Pineapple Culture In Florida - 1921

Zafra · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2015, 01:26:52 PM »

Quote from: PR-Giants on October 06, 2015, 08:14:27 AM

Pineapple Culture In Florida - 1921

excellent pdf with a lot of info i was missing - thank you!

fyliu · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2015, 02:50:45 PM »

After harvest, is anything done to the mother plant?

Just leave it growing along with the ratoon? Or trim it somehow?

gnappi · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2015, 03:54:03 PM »

I've had 100% success using tops, but you have to do it right.

First and foremost is picking a pineapple in the store that you cannot pull the center leaves out of, if you can pull leaves out the top won't grow, it's probably already dying.

Second, after you cut the top off cut it again towards the green leaves until you see little spots in the meat. From what I've read this is where the roots will appear, also remove a couple of layers of leaves from the bottom. This must be a good method because EVERY top I put in water has roots in two weeks and can be planted in less than a month.

Don't plan on fruit soon though, they won't bear fruit for around two years, and then they'll be rather small, but very delicious.

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2015, 05:21:48 PM »

Quote from: fyliu on October 06, 2015, 02:50:45 PM

After harvest, is anything done to the mother plant?

Just leave it growing along with the ratoon? Or trim it somehow?

I'm not sure what the "correct" thing to do is, but I've left my mother plant alone. I did re-pot it, though, because it was horribly root-bound. (This is not the same plant that made the fruit pictured above; I harvested this plant in February.)

I put it in a pot that's probably 4x the volume of the original, and I repositioned it so that the ratoon is in the center. I may slice off the mother plant if that's called for, but I'm still looking around for some advice. I'm out of town right now, but I'll post a photo of the transplanted mother/ratoon when I get back.

treefrog · « **Reply #11 on:** October 06, 2015, 06:25:54 PM »

waterbug,

i would wait a while before getting rid of the mother plant. with luck, she may send out a sucker or three. you have very little to lose by waiting.

Galka · « **Reply #12 on:** October 06, 2015, 08:50:47 PM »

I always leave the mother plant and have new suckers over and over. So far I have 5 in one pot from last year produced plant. I should take a picture and post it here. Another mother plant died and the suckers took over. You can just cut leaves off the mother plant and let suckers grow. It's in my experience.

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #13 on:** October 06, 2015, 09:19:56 PM »

I have more propagules than I know what to do with at this point. I have clay soil, so my pineapples only do well when I put them in pots, and I'm out of large pots right now! The pots I like to use are $15 each, and then I used a bagged cactus mix that's $6/cu ft., so growing new plants is a bit expensive.

I already have 8 rooted crowns and purchased plants (Sugarloaf) that need up-potting right now, so don't need more suckers.

Next time I have a free weekend I might pick up a few cu yds of municipal mulch and see if I can make a reasonable mix with it. That would cut my cost per plant by quite a bit, and then maybe I can have a few more plants.

Galka · « **Reply #14 on:** October 06, 2015, 10:59:54 PM »

TheWaterbug, this is why I don't separate mine and let them stay in the same pot. I just want to see how they will do.

Last year I got a mother plant and 3 suckers left together and the bigger one fruited this year. Now I wanna see what these two smaller will do next year. I kinda want two fruits in one pot.

Greedy, I know. But also have a limited space. I use plastic half barrel pot smaller size. They were $7 at Lowe's.

fyliu · « **Reply #15 on:** October 07, 2015, 12:42:09 AM »

municipal mulch from LA is not very good to grow things in. Mulch in general are not composted and are meant to cover the soil. It also absorbs nitrogen so your plant planted in it will starve. Anyway, the LA mulch is slightly composted stuff from green bins and smells pretty bad. I think there's another place to get better mulch in OC that's known to the OC CRFG. I was at that meeting but forgot the name. I go to the one closest to the LA zoo for "zoo doo" compost, which doesn't smell much.

Mark in Texas · « **Reply #16 on:** October 07, 2015, 10:26:59 AM »

Best I've seen yet. http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm

100% success and 18 mos. later I have plants 3' X 3', they are huge. Hope to have a nice crop this spring.

Galka · « **Reply #17 on:** October 07, 2015, 11:12:31 AM »

Here are my monsters.

fyliu · « **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2015, 03:27:30 PM »

You guys have really nice plants but much larger pots than mine. I have all mine in 3gal nursery pots(that Asaffron recommended) and the fruit from the first one is just as big as the ones in stores. The crown is as large as the fruit, so that's a difference. Do you get larger fruits with larger pots or is it kind of wasting space?

I'm sure my plants are root bound and I'm not sure if that's detrimental to them, since they only need to live for 2 years.
I'll try larger pots for a few and see if it makes any difference.

JeffDM · « **Reply #19 on:** October 07, 2015, 03:37:43 PM »

Twist the top (leaves) off the pineapple while wearing gloves, peel off the lower leaves to expose some roots, stick it in the dirt, water and wait.
Oh, and make sure you get a pineapple with good looking foliage.

Galka · « **Reply #20 on:** October 07, 2015, 05:43:28 PM »

Quote from: fyliu on October 07, 2015, 03:27:30 PM

You guys have really nice plants but much larger pots than mine. I have all mine in 3gal nursery pots(that Asaffron recommended) and the fruit from the first one is just as big as the ones in stores. The crown is as large as the fruit, so that's a difference. Do you get larger fruits with larger pots or is it kind of wasting space?

I'm sure my plants are root bound and I'm not sure if that's detrimental to them, since they only need to live for 2 years.
I'll try larger pots for a few and see if it makes any difference.

In my experience the bigger the plant the bigger fruit you get. As I said before I had an one year old (planted top) that fruited and the fruit was smaller than the other ones. They get bigger in big pot but I have a White Jade in 1gall pot and it's huge. If I can get to it I will take a picture.

Galka · « **Reply #21 on:** October 07, 2015, 06:25:12 PM »

White Jade in 1 gallon pot. It's bigger than those in big pot.

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #22 on:** October 07, 2015, 07:34:22 PM »

That's a magnificent plant! I can't believe you got that much plant out of that small a pot.

How often do you fertilize?

Does anyone have an opinion (or data!) about whether you get bigger/better fruit from crowns vs. suckers vs. slips? Or is it all about the plant size and the environment?

fyliu · « **Reply #23 on:** October 07, 2015, 08:15:09 PM »

I agree with the bigger plant = bigger fruit. That's a big plant you have in a small pot. Maybe I just need to water often to get away with using smaller pots.

Galka · « **Reply #24 on:** October 07, 2015, 11:45:54 PM »

Thanks, guys. The metter of fact, I didn't fertilize it at all. I bought it in January and it stayed in the same pot waiting for me to replant it. But I didn't get to it and I feel bad poor plant is trying to show up.

The only fertilizer it had was from the nursery the green granules. I didn't water it wery often but it was in crowded spot so the pot was in the shade. I was thinking maybe it was trying to rich the sun who knows. Now when I got to it I found a sucker so I need to replant them both asap.

Doglips · « **Reply #25 on:** October 08, 2015, 01:11:06 AM »

Quote from: Galka on October 07, 2015, 06:25:12 PM

White Jade in 1 gallon pot. It's bigger than those in big pot.

That is a monster. very nice. Don't know what you are not doing, but you are doing it right.

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #26 on:** October 11, 2015, 08:09:28 PM »

Quote from: TheWaterbug on October 06, 2015, 06:52:52 AM

I'm becoming convinced that the condition of the propagule is more important than the method.

Here's that main crown, one week old. I harvested the fruit, trimmed the crown, and put it in water on the same day:

I had a similar experience with the last pineapple I harvested. Fresher crowns seem to root faster.

Zafra · « **Reply #27 on:** October 11, 2015, 09:56:20 PM »

Quote from: TheWaterbug on October 11, 2015, 08:09:28 PM

Quote from: TheWaterbug on October 06, 2015, 06:52:52 AM
I'm becoming convinced that the condition of the propagule is more important than the method.

Here's that main crown, one week old. I harvested the fruit, trimmed the crown, and put it in water on the same day:

I had a similar experience with the last pineapple I harvested. Fresher crowns seem to root faster.

Wow one week! I've got all the tops and baby tops in water now - fingers crossed for results as good as yours. Thanks everyone!

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #28 on:** October 13, 2015, 04:50:10 PM »

Quote from: fyliu on October 07, 2015, 12:42:09 AM

municipal mulch from LA is not very good to grow things in. Mulch in general are not composted and are meant to cover the soil. It also absorbs nitrogen so your plant planted in it will starve. Anyway, the LA mulch is slightly composted stuff from green bins and smells pretty bad. I think there's another place to get better mulch in OC that's known to the OC CRFG. I was at that meeting but forgot the name. I go to the one closest to the LA zoo for "zoo doo" compost, which doesn't smell much.

The mulch I've gotten from the San Pedro/Gaffey St. site has been pretty good. It's dark brown and smells soil-y. On occasion I've taken from batches that had a bit of an ammonia smell. I've been using it as a soil amendment for a few years because my native soil is incredibly rock-hard clay, and I think it's worked well. Nothing has starved, though I also apply nitrogen fertilizers though my drip system.

But I did leave a pile of it sitting around for nearly a year, and it was much finer-textured and crumblier after that year of aging.

Do you have an address and/or website for the "zoo doo" stuff? I'm always looking for a better source of free amendments since I use so much.

fyliu · « **Reply #29 on:** October 14, 2015, 12:29:25 AM »

They call it compost, but there's a sign saying it's from the zoo and has composted animal doo in it.
Sometimes I go on Saturday and it's already empty.

Boyle Heights CD #14
Address: 850 N Mission Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Mulch Delivered to this Location: Thursdays (compost) and Fridays (mulch)
Hours of operation: Everyday 7:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
How to get there: Directions

http://www.lacitysan.org/srpcd/mulch_giveaway.htm

gaberec · « **Reply #30 on:** October 14, 2015, 07:11:45 AM »

where is it possible to know ananas' varieties ?

TheWaterbug · « **Reply #31 on:** October 15, 2015, 12:59:41 PM »

Quote from: fyliu on October 14, 2015, 12:29:25 AM

They call it compost, but there's a sign saying it's from the zoo and has composted animal doo in it.
Sometimes I go on Saturday and it's already empty.

Boyle Heights CD #14
Address: 850 N Mission Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90033
Mulch Delivered to this Location: Thursdays (compost) and Fridays (mulch)
Hours of operation: Everyday 7:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
How to get there: Directions

http://www.lacitysan.org/srpcd/mulch_giveaway.htm

Thanks! That's the same website I used to find the San Pedro location, but I never noticed that they distinguished between compost and mulch. There's only mulch at the San Pedro drop, so I'll have take a Friday afternoon off and trek out to Boyle Heights sometime to get some compost and compare.

fyliu · « **Reply #32 on:** October 15, 2015, 03:13:35 PM »

I think the compost is only available at that location. I'm not sure how well composted it is since there are some not small pieces.
El Corazon facility in Oceanside has the nicest compost I've seen. Very uniform in texture with tiny pieces. They only let north SD county people get free compost though, but Mary Matava once invited CRFG members from SD to go there also. She basically invested the money to get the big industrial machinery to "do it right".

Galka · « **Reply #33 on:** January 17, 2016, 06:23:56 PM »

Still in a one gallon pot.

Moved it to garage today for 2-3weeks hopping to get it to fruit.

fyliu · « **Reply #34 on:** January 17, 2016, 06:49:12 PM »

Very nice! How is it able to get so big? Is it just that you have enough humidity for it to not depend on the roots much?

Galka · « **Reply #35 on:** January 17, 2016, 06:57:44 PM »

fyliu I have no idea.

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Author Topic: several pineapple questions (Read 9099 times)