They will start to turn a little golden, susie, plus you can not miss their smell. A fresh pineapple has a really sweet fruity fragrance. Go look at and smell the ones in the grocery store. That will give you an idea of color and fragrance.

And yes, you can pull the pups off and plant them too.

Hi
i allow mine to grow until it becomes softer to the touch
and as Cindee says the aroma is unmistakeable. They obviously pick the commercial ones way to early as the ones I grow are much sweeter but very disappointing in size.
When i was in costa Rica i visited a commercial farm and they had some over 10 pounds!! Big as watermelons lol.
They also had red ,white and orange fruit which I have never seen for sale here. The white was so delicious i even ate the core and half the leaves. They grew them in rows on hills in full sun with flood irrigation. The soil was incredibly rich mostly volcanic ash. Unfortuneately they were busy so didn't get many culture tips not to mention the language problem lol. Have never got one over two ponds no matter what. Anyone done better??? gary

garyfl-msmarion gave me a red pup. You might ask her where she got hers from.

I've had them up to 7 or so lbs. Heavy organic matter has worked best for me. I've got 2 or 3 dozen fruit going now, some are sizing up, perhaps a month from ripe. Like they said, it'll be obvious when its ripe, but if your yard gets critters, beware, they may bite it. If you can fashion a cage over it, do it. Those 'slips' (new plants) coming out under the fruit are new plants. Leave the biggest attached to have another fruit next year. The others can be removed a month or two after harvesting your fruit. Twist and work them back and forth, holding as close to the bottom as possible to not break them in the wrong spot, and they should come loose. These are great plant material and produce a fruit in a relatively short amount of time. I usually get 6 or 8 slips from each plant. I went from a few plants to over 100 now. Got about 12 different varieties, including kona sugarloaf and other 'fancy' types. Looking forward to my first of the year!

Gary

Wow you guys are so lucky to have so many pineapple plants producing. I guess I've only seen unripe pineapple in Publix!

I love the ones in Anna's pic with the varigated leaves and red fruit. If anybody else has any they'd like to swap little babies, let me know. The ones I have are called California Gold and are great for the landscape because they are smooth and only poke you at the ends of the spears, which I trim off for safety. *I have to keep mine in pots on someone else's property.

Thanks for all the great info, Cindee, David and Gary.

Susie

Cindee I believe the varigated one I gave you is an ornamental.

OH...gary-what Marion said....lol
Here's my babies.

{{gwi:891767}}

cindeea
very nice starts there.. Anyone know where the name pineapple came from?? Particulrly since it's not even remorely related to either one..Does vaguely resemble a pine cone. In Spanish it's Pina.
Are there any other broms that produce fruit?? thanks gary

Oh ya...Pina as in Pina Colada! OLE~

Three is my limit!!

I'm camping out in Dghays yard. No fair. I've got one plant up here in the arctic.

I live in Auburndale/Winterhaven I would love to grow pineapples where can I get a start like the ones you are talking about...Do they grow in the sand or do you have to use a potting soil..I am from Washington so forgive my TOTAL lack of knowledge on this subject

Smittee, you can get a start by buying a pineapple in the grocery store. Twist off the top, let it sit a few days and plant it. They like organic matter and well drained acid soil, potting soil would probably be fine.

Gary

Thanks Gary
TWIST? just curious why twist instead of cut?

If you go to a grocery like Publix, and ask the produce dept., they will save tops for you when they cut them for the salads, etc.

JYGirl sorry to tell you they have stopped doing that. At least all the ones around me. They buy them with no tops now. I was so disappointed.

Agree with Marion, I asked last week at 2 different stores, and they both told me they are now shipped to them without any tops for their fresh cut pineapples.

Twist. You end up with the least amount of fruit stuck to the top, less chance of rot/disease/pests. They come off like a champ.

Gary

gary,
how low of a pH are we talking -- do you know? can i interplant them with my blueberries, where the pH is down around 5.4? that'd be great -- irrigated, lots of organic stuff.

Boy I don't even know the ph of soil aroind my pineapples. They don't seem to mind and just grow anyway.

They would be fine with that PH. As a matter of fact, I'm going to make a huge long blueberry bed also, and will edge it with pines also. Cindeaa, mine are probably not in real acid soil either, but there is reduced chance of disease in that soil.

Gary

gary -- what berries are good for your zone? it took me a LONG time to find ones that were appropriate for 9a & our cooling hours.

Ill check out Bay Laurel Nursery's site they have lots of low chill hour fruits. I have three blues in 3 gal. pots living on my screened patio still putting out berries, although production has slowed down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click it here

I was going to try Emerald, Sharpblue, and one other one which I forget right now. Which ones are you growing successfully?

Gary

My blues aren't doing much. I got an Opal and an Emerald variety at the Caloosa Exotic fruit and tree sale last year. One plant died, the other just sits there.

from my experience SunShine Blue is the BEST. They require the least chill hours and are most tolerant of improper pH.

they are self pollinating and only grow to about 3ft tall by 3 ft wide. I have had em now for yrs and they are effortless except for the mockingbirds.

Before settling in on this variety I used to grow the highbush type as well as rabbit eye. I had no luck at all. Seems the two bushes were out of sync when it came time for pollinating and really just didnt enjoy the effort required for the minimal small berries.

Currently I am trying to air layer the SunShine Blues. I have 4 primary plants ( all in pots) and a couple struggling in the ground from tip rooting but wouldnt mind a bunch more around here.

Every year you tell me about the Sunshine Blues, Tony and every year I tell myself I am going to order some....who was your connection, again?

Cindeeeeeeeeeeeeee..

the place I had gotten the BEST plants from in the past is PARK Seeds, BUT there was a fella, a judge actually in NJ that dabbles in a blue berry farm and sells on eBAY. I think and will check his ID but think it was SUNSHINE BLUE or something like that..... brb while I check this. If you do a search on eBAY, using SunShine Blue there are a couple of grower/sellers listing them now.

BTW, darn you Cindeeee! I have emailed a couple of them I spotted to see if I can get em here fast for a friends B-day gift!!

I don't know know how to Play E-Bay! I'll check Park Seeds.