Starting a new pineapple from the top of a supermarket pineapple

[zands]

I cut off the top leaving an inch of pineapple flesh.
Put it in this blue plastic coffee container on the porch and with the rains we have been getting it was frequently drowned. I did not monitor the water level closely but poured off excess rainwater.
It sat in water for four weeks.

Removing the pineapple top from the water......look at the extensive root development. I then planted it in a 3 gallon bucket with compost, black soil and semi-rotted wood chips. The largest leaf is 8 inches and got there just sitting in water! I hope it has enough room in this bucket to grow a good size pineapple. Should I move it up to 7 gallon in a 6-9 months?

[bradflorida]

I have a few hundred pineapple plants growing in my yard from store tops.  Here is how I have done it, with just about 100 percent success rate.

Twist top off pineapple  (no need to cut).  Place top in ground with thick layer of mulch around it.  Water for 5 seconds with the hose, every other day for 1 to 2 weeks. 

That's it.  I don't even fertilize.  This has produced many delicious pineapples over the past couple of years.

Brad

[Mark in Texas]

Leave it in the 3 gal. pot.  Pineapples feed thru the cup, don't need much in the way of a root system.  Feed with a 1/2 dose 5-1-3 with micros.  Water little to none in the winter.  Here's the best site on home culture.
http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm

Just bought a yellow pineapple from the store to compare.  It was crap compared to the sugar sweet, juicy home grown.  Store was high in acid, low in sugar and taste.

[pineislander]

Thanks for the link to growing pineapples from store bought tops. My wife has been bringing home tops cut at the local grocery store and I've followed the instructions. However, nearly all of them have had rotten centers within 3 days of drying out. The center set of 3-4 leaves just pulls out and is brown and rotten. I believe I recall years ago having good luck with these but not any luck at all the past few weeks, dozens have the same thing happen. I notice that the boxes say store at 45 degrees, and maybe the store is keeping them too cold?
Any suggestions or ideas?

[OCchris1]

I just twist off the tops and put them into some acidic, well draining mix. Done and done. Works like a charm for me. Chris

[skhan]

for those with pineapple patches, how is weeding done without pain

[gnappi]

I've had GREAT success with my 20-30 pine apples by cutting the top way back till the "dots" show in the meat and set it in a coffee cup with water. They get roots in a very short time. My cuttings from plants like slips do not grow very well for me.

I think the key(s) are light, water, good soil and fertilizer. I got 9 this year and the ones I gave away were raved about.

My local market gives away their cut tops too but 1/2 are dead and wont root.

[pineislander]

It looks like I will begin having much better luck. The pine tops I was getting were by Dole and tagged as coming from Honduras.
They must have finished that shipment and are cutting Dole from Guatemala, very fresh and great looking. Wish me luck, they cut avg. of 5/day, some days 10 some days none.

[Evildeadguy]

for those with pineapple patches, how is weeding done without pain

Hi i use Mulch to keep the weeds away works great

[Evildeadguy]

Leave it in the 3 gal. pot.  Pineapples feed thru the cup, don't need much in the way of a root system.  Feed with a 1/2 dose 5-1-3 with micros.  Water little to none in the winter.  Here's the best site on home culture.
http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm

Just bought a yellow pineapple from the store to compare.  It was crap compared to the sugar sweet, juicy home grown.  Store was high in acid, low in sugar and taste.

Hi i wanted to know what's the fertilizer called that your talking about 5-1-3 with micros?

[Mark in Texas]

Leave it in the 3 gal. pot.  Pineapples feed thru the cup, don't need much in the way of a root system.  Feed with a 1/2 dose 5-1-3 with micros.  Water little to none in the winter.  Here's the best site on home culture.
http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/pineapple/pineapple.htm

Just bought a yellow pineapple from the store to compare.  It was crap compared to the sugar sweet, juicy home grown.  Store was high in acid, low in sugar and taste.

Hi i wanted to know what's the fertilizer called that your talking about 5-1-3 with micros?

That 5-1-3 is a general NPK guide and is what commercial growers use - high in N, low in P.  Pineapples also like quite a bit of iron.  Having said that am using Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro, 9-3-6, almost exclusively on my pineapples now.  I must have a dozen soluble brands and dozens of supplements so when one runs out.....

[pineislander]

Has anyone tried stripping the leaves off a mature pineapple plant, cutting the trunk into 1" pieces and germinating these in nursery conditions?
This old 1955 article says you might get up to 100 plants.
http://journals.fcla.edu/fshs/article/view/101699/97643

[Mark in Texas]

Has anyone tried stripping the leaves off a mature pineapple plant, cutting the trunk into 1" pieces and germinating these in nursery conditions?
This old 1955 article says you might get up to 100 plants.
http://journals.fcla.edu/fshs/article/view/101699/97643

Wow, gotta try this.  Thanks for sharing.

[baccarat0809]

Last summer I took one of the twistees from a store and cut it up in quarters and within 3 weeks those segments were pushing new growth from the base section that was put into the ground.

The big draw back to that is those plants from the quartered top are much, much, much smaller than the twistees that I just put into the ground whole.

From the looks of it, the quartered ones will need at least another year, maybe two before the will throw a flower.  Comparing those to the whole ones I put in the ground last summer is night and day - my whole ones are getting enormous and I'm guessing will end up flowering and fruiting this summer.

Just be prepared for the results to take a while if you use very small cut pieces.  A LONG time.

IF you're looking for more plant material, besides the local supermarkets you can always try going to the smoothie king franchisee in your neighborhood and asking there as well.  Its hit or miss but if you find somebody into recycling you could end up with an easy 50-100 tops and have plenty of material to get you going.  On my end I usually buy 1 pineapple a week at our local bodega so I've just been adding one new plant a week.  I get about 85% take rate with much better take rates in the summer than the winter time (summer was almost 100% take rate, winter has been about 60% take rate).

[FruitFreak]

Has anyone tried stripping the leaves off a mature pineapple plant, cutting the trunk into 1" pieces and germinating these in nursery conditions?
This old 1955 article says you might get up to 100 plants.
http://journals.fcla.edu/fshs/article/view/101699/97643

Haven't tried that but I do know that you can quarter a single top and get 4 pineapple plants from one top.  The only drawback is they take longer to grow back to size.

[Mark in Texas]

I have an Agristarts account so I can get tissue cultured stock like White Jade or Sugarloaf at "dirt cheap" prices.  Kicker is, what do you do with 144, their minimum?  FYI there is a HUGE markup by vendors selling their stock.

[pineislander]

I've done well since my wife made friends with the produce cutter at the grocery store. Some weeks I get 12 or more tops. Half of these have been too mistreated or are too old to grow, but over the year I've been able to get over a hundred. I'm thinking of getting into something different from the Gold Doles, and can order from agristarts. The 1955 division method sounds interesting and I may eventually sacrifice one to see what happens.