My baby pineapple, now (August 9)...

... and one month ago (July 11, 2022).

Thank you so much for your quick and comprehensive reply, Linda! Now I can harvest my pineapple with confidence. Whether or not I could re-plant the top was going to be my next question. Also, from what I've read, I gather that a pineapple plant will die once it's produced a single fruit, but I've read about "pups" at the base of the plant that you can remove and re-plant elsewhere. I haven't seen any on my plant, though. Are they on the ground near the existing plant's root base? Or nestling in its leaves somewhere? I'll try to post another photo showing more of the bottom of the plant so that more experienced eyes can help with anything this newbie pineapple gardener might have missed. 🙂Thank you again!

.>"die once it's produced a single fruit" ___ Untrue of plants around here.

>"on the ground...?" ___ Two possible locations : on base, on stalk. Your plant is so small that shoots, if any, will be(come) easily seen. Keep one on plant to grow as new stalk.

Thanks so much, four. It's possible I misunderstood what I read. I got the impression pineapples are like bananas in that the plant that produces the fruit dies, but it produces pups before it does. • Q: Should I cut the stalk of the existing plant down after I remove my pineapple, or just leave it to its own devices?

• I still don't see any pups/suckers on this plant; in fact, the lower leaves have looked pretty dry/dying for many months. I managed to get some photos of my plant (although my protective cube didn't make it easy!); please let me know if any of you see any. I believe those little plants in the soil near the base are just grass.

More pics:

Sorry about the wire bar in the way.

Leave the stalk to its own devices. Pups may come later.

tj

Thank you, tsugajunkie! I kind of thought they might appear later. BTW, to get the fruit off the stalk, do I cut it, or just twist it? (I've seen it twisted off in videos, but this is my first pineapple, and I'm nervous about messing it up ☺️)

Just give a good twist and it should come off.

You can also cut it off at the base with pruning shears or a sharp knife.

Fully ripened home grown pineapples are heavenly - usually much sweeter and fragrant than the store bought ones. I even save the peels I cut off, put them in a quart jar, cover with rum and let it steep. I don't really like rum, but my sister & BIL like to use the pineapple infused rum when they make piña coladas.

I like that 'cage' you have around it - I could use one of those!

Thanks, carolb! Some previous occupant of my house made it - I found it in the garage. It's come in very handy more than once - I wish I could thank them!

The pineapple has been picked! And you're right, it came off very easily - almost too easily! It's small, but it smells heavenly!

I'm planning to plant the top right back into the soil. I'm afraid to leave it without water (or in water, which might dry up, to propagate roots) for 3 weeks while I'm away, so I figure its best shot is right back in the soil it came from.

I'm a little worried about the apparent lack of visible roots in the top, though, which I twisted off as suggested by Linda above. It's probably because it's so small. I'm going to plant it anyway, because I don't have a lot of other options. Most pineapple tops I plant here do fine, unless they didn't get a good enough root in the soil. (I've been known to just plunk them down on the ground without bothering to dig a hole. 😉) But not this time! We shall see how it fared in 3 weeks.

I always let the tops dry out for several days before planting - and I remove the bottom rows of leaves as well - maybe 3 layers or so. That way, you have a larger bit to plant in the soil.

Plants grown from tops do produce smaller fruits. I am so tempted to buy a 'real' plant after seeing someone in the neighborhood's plants in their front yard producing huge and multiple fruits over the past several months. It was amazing!

I did remove at least 3 more rows of leaves before planting it. I would have liked to either let it dry out or put it in some water to let the roots propagate before planting it (I've read both), but I just didn't feel safe leaving it alone for 3 weeks. And taking it with me on a plane just wasn't practical. This is what I finally planted:

And here it is in the ground. It's in a place where it should get more water than the original plant did. I hope the mulch will help, too.

And here it is looking tiny in between an older planted pineapple top and some kind of baby palmetto:

I'll report back on how it fared after I return. Thanks to everybody for your help and advice - I hope that when the next of my current 8 pineapple plants flowers, I'll do a better job of raising a bigger pineapple!

P. S. I hope to cut and try the pineapple today!

I've learned that you grow pineapples in a pot in your lanai or outside in a cage. The critters love pineapples and I've lost every single one growing outdoors in the ground to animals.

Jane

jane_ny, that's why I put the wire cage over it. This may be my first pineapple, but I am sadly no stranger to thieving garden and flowerbed critters! 😆

P. S. A neighbor of mine tried growing tomatoes on her lanai, and racoons actually RIPPED THROUGH the screening to get to the fruits. She'll never grow another plant inside her lanai again.

Just wanted to say this baby pineapple was one of the most delicious I've ever tasted! Twisting the top off left a bit of a brown spot (I didn't cut it for a few days), but thankfully most of it was in the core:

I got 24 bites of heavenly sweet pineapple, six per quarter:

And I put the skin/rind into a quart of water to infuse it with pineapple flavor - I didn't want to waste anything! Those tiny scraps on the cutting board at left are all that remained. ☺️

Finally, I thought you might enjoy seeing how the pineapple was smaller than some of my home-grown avocados!

>"I put the wire cage over it." ___ Who "it" ? We see that cage was over fruited plant, but is cage now over planted fruit remnant? The thieves go for that, too.

With regard to "over" it, the caged fruit looks to be less than fully protected from raccoons which can dig+reach in.

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