Growing Pineapple with 4-way Split Crown Method

[Evildeadguy]

i always use the crown from my Natal Queen Pineapples along with the slips and suckers... I'm always doing research on pineapple plants so i heard about what's called the 4 way split crown method if done right it will give you 4 plants instead of one works great i have done it a few times now..

if you wanna learn how you can watch this guys Youtube how to video check it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn11kYDqHlg&list=FLHsxHa94iQSKj4h55lbon6g&index=5&t=194s

[Orkine]

I did not know you could do that.
Doesn't that render ineffective the drilling of the center of the crown that some sellers do to prevent growing the variety?

Thanks for sharing I must try this sometime.

[Evildeadguy]

I did not know you could do that.
Doesn't that render ineffective the drilling of the center of the crown that some sellers do to prevent growing the variety?

Thanks for sharing I must try this sometime.

Hi you can drill the center out of the crown like some commercial Growers do but the crown would still root and grow but it will produce a sucker to grow in its place and you can grow from that. It might not work with all variety of pineapples... .most of the time when a growers/seller drills out the center by the time it's bought alot of times the crown is in bad shape and would end up rotting if trying to root... The method I'm doing needs to be done with a fresh crown which the crown hasn't been drilled out

[pineislander]

This is a .pdf document showing experimental results of several split-crown techniques.
https://academicjournals.org/article/article1380096403_Agogbua%20and%20Osuji.pdf

[Evildeadguy]

This is a .pdf document showing experimental results of several split-crown techniques.
https://academicjournals.org/article/article1380096403_Agogbua%20and%20Osuji.pdf

Thanks for sharing. i seen that before in the past

[Orkine]

I did my first today.  Now to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

[Evildeadguy]

I did my first today.  Now to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

i started mine on the 15th of july this month so far they seem to be doing fine no signs of rot so
that's good so we shell see in time i will take a photo soon and post it later... i been outside potting
my next season's Natal queen suckers and slips.. not that i needed anymore. lol i already have others that will
be full grown and should flower by winter time sometime...

if you get a chance take photos of yours and keep us updated how they turn out

[Evildeadguy]

here is a photo of the crown i split into 4



before being potted

[Evildeadguy]

update here is a photo of them each starting a sucker to grow in place of the 4-way-split crown i started little over a month now

[Cop]

Evildeadguy
Very interesting, I will also try, I love pineapples and take up little space. Thank you very much.

[billm]

Nice progress.  I tried this back when you originally posted.  So far I haven't seen any growth from any of the sections.  I guess you keep them in the shade for a while?  Anyway I rarely get any noticeable growth the first year when planting whole tops, maybe because of the short season here.

[Evildeadguy]

Nice progress.  I tried this back when you originally posted.  So far I haven't seen any growth from any of the sections.  I guess you keep them in the shade for a while?  Anyway I rarely get any noticeable growth the first year when planting whole tops, maybe because of the short season here.

i kept these outside with my other pineapple plants

[JoshuaTilaranCR]

Do these suckers grow and produce faster than just planting the whole top?

[Evildeadguy]

Do these suckers grow and produce faster than just planting the whole top?

I'm not 100% sure but i would think around the same time it takes a crown to grow.. and thats some what slower than when growing from slips or suckers that grow at a faster rate

[TimInAz]

Thanks for sharing! Good to hear others trying this too.

I recently tried the quartering method to jumpstart my sugarloaf patch, and am in the middle of it. Since they were shipped with crowns cut down I tried the route of a light rooting in water first just to test viability. I am in Arizona so plants are indoors on a window sill for now.

July 14th: Placed crowns in water with little rooting hormone. 
July 24th: Roots got 1/2 to 1 inch long, quartered the crowns, planted in off the shelf potting mix + perlite.  16 total.  (Hindsight should have throw in peatmoss)
August ~7th: lost one to rot. Turned black and moldy. Realized I cannot provide water on the cut side in my environment (low airflow).  I now water lightly every 3-4 days on just the not-cut side of the crown now. Also note water rooting may have compounded.
August 30th: 4 of them have visible new growth now, the other 11 still alive waiting to pop.

Comparing your timelines to mine, looks like simply cutting and planting is the way to go. I gained nothing by trying to root in water first other than assurance the crowns were still viable.

Will move to peat moss/acid based soil outdoors as they start showing growth.

Happy growing!


Also, after reviewing the image of the roots when I quartered them, I'd be tempted to even try cutting into 1/6ths or 1/8ths.

[Evildeadguy]

Thanks for sharing! Good to hear others trying this too.

I recently tried the quartering method to jumpstart my sugarloaf patch, and am in the middle of it. Since they were shipped with crowns cut down I tried the route of a light rooting in water first just to test viability. I am in Arizona so plants are indoors on a window sill for now.

July 14th: Placed crowns in water with little rooting hormone. 
July 24th: Roots got 1/2 to 1 inch long, quartered the crowns, planted in off the shelf potting mix + perlite.  16 total.  (Hindsight should have throw in peatmoss)
August ~7th: lost one to rot. Turned black and moldy. Realized I cannot provide water on the cut side in my environment (low airflow).  I now water lightly every 3-4 days on just the not-cut side of the crown now. Also note water rooting may have compounded.
August 30th: 4 of them have visible new growth now, the other 11 still alive waiting to pop.

Comparing your timelines to mine, looks like simply cutting and planting is the way to go. I gained nothing by trying to root in water first other than assurance the crowns were still viable.

Will move to peat moss/acid based soil outdoors as they start showing growth.

Happy growing!


Also, after reviewing the image of the roots when I quartered them, I'd be tempted to even try cutting into 1/6ths or 1/8ths.

Awesome Thanks for Sharing your results of trying this method of growing
 

[Orkine]

I did my first today.  Now to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

i started mine on the 15th of july this month so far they seem to be doing fine no signs of rot so
that's good so we shell see in time i will take a photo soon and post it later... i been outside potting
my next season's Natal queen suckers and slips.. not that i needed anymore. lol i already have others that will
be full grown and should flower by winter time sometime...

if you get a chance take photos of yours and keep us updated how they turn out

Success.
I have not looked for a few days and took a peek at it this evening and I see fresh growth.  I will look in better light tomorrow and take a picture or two.

[Evildeadguy]

I did my first today.  Now to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

i started mine on the 15th of july this month so far they seem to be doing fine no signs of rot so
that's good so we shell see in time i will take a photo soon and post it later... i been outside potting
my next season's Natal queen suckers and slips.. not that i needed anymore. lol i already have others that will
be full grown and should flower by winter time sometime...

if you get a chance take photos of yours and keep us updated how they turn out

Success.
I have not looked for a few days and took a peek at it this evening and I see fresh growth.  I will look in better light tomorrow and take a picture or two.

Awesome Thanks for letting us know. Mine are doing great getting big Photo below