If you happen to have a pineapple laying around or if you're going to the grocery store to buy one, even if you just ate a pineapple and have nothing left but the crown. Or someone gave you a leftover pineapple or crown... You could learn how to grow a pineapple. Learning how to grow a pineapple plant is easier than you think. Let's look at how it's done.
Choosing the Right Pineapple
If you're going to learn how to grow a pineapple from the supermarket, then you're going to want to pick out a pineapple that's nice and ripe. The first thing you should notice is the wonderful smell. The pineapple should smell very sweet. Sometimes they smell so good they make your mouth water.
When considering the appearance of the fruit, the skin should be a golden yellow color, with very little to no green showing through. The leaves should be a medium dusty green, stiff and upright, with no yellow, brown or black. When you pick up a ripe pineapple, it should be heavy for its size.
If you receive a pineapple crown second-hand from a friend or otherwise, it should meet the same requirements for green, healthy leaves as a fresh one.
Prepping Your Crown
Let the crown dry out for about 5-7 days in a safe place. The leaves may curl and turn a little brown and crispy, which is completely normal.
After you're done drying your pineapple crown, peel off the very bottom layer of leaves. Poke four toothpicks horizontally into the stem, just below the leaves, in a north, south, east and west pattern. This will hold it up out of the water in the jar we will be putting it in.
Rooting Your Pineapple Crown
You want to find a shallow jar or cup and put your pineapple crown on it, propping it on the toothpicks. Fill the jar or cup with water until it barely touches the bottom of the pineapple crown. You might need to change the water ever so often so it doesn't develop mold.
About 5-7 days will go by before you see roots. Make sure to check the water levels and refill or change the water if you need to. Wait until your pineapple roots are about 2-3 inches long before trying to plant the crown.
Planting Your Pineapple Crown
will do. Fill it full of potting soil. I recommend an organic soil for your health and the plant's health. Plant the crown up to the bottom layer of leaves and lightly water it.
After your crown has been planted, you'll need to increase the size of your pot periodically, as the plant grows, to make room for the expanding root system. You'll want to water it once a week and keep it somewhere partially sunny. If it's cold outside make sure to keep it indoors until it warms up. Your pineapple plant only requires a few hours of direct sunlight per day, so if it's outside in the summertime, make sure it has some protection from the sun.
It could take up to 2 years for a pineapple plant to flower, maybe even longer in a cooler climate, so be patient.
Further Info
So now that you have a pineapple plant, go ahead and pamper it! While you're at it why not plant several more alongside the first, that way there are more pineapples to eat, and even more pineapples to plant, and then eat, and the cycle continues.
Your cat may want to nibble on the leaves but that's okay because pineapple plants are not toxic to cats. It should be noted that the leaves and skin are toxic to your dog, so keep pineapple plants away from curious pooches.
Conclusion
As you can see it's not as difficult to learn how to grow a pineapple from the crown as you may think. Why not get a delicious pineapple today, and try it yourself?
You can get the necessary gardening supplies for planting your own pineapple over at Amazon.com by clicking here
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