My Pineapple died.

DavidLMO said:My Pineapple died.

Sorry you lost it.Do you know what caused it to die? Did you leave it outdoors?

Awww...sorry to hear that David.

As Tony Avant of Plant Delights Nursery says - "you are not a true gardener until you have killed a plant three times." David, you are on your way, congratulations.

:-)

I started the plant in Summer 15 ** and over-wintered it that year inside. After Mother's Day '16 I took it outdoors and planted it. It did well for some time and was growing well.

I think what happened was because where it was located, it got too much water in the cup and simply rotted.

** When I started the Top I also got some seeds started and 2 plants made it for ~ 4 or so months. Then they just keeled over one day and died. Some disease I guess. I was proud that I had gotten the seeds to germinate and grow.

Will try again if I can ever find I really nice top. That is hard where I live.

So sorry, David. Good luck for your next attempt. Maybe the ground doesn't get warm enough to make pineapples pretend they're in Hawaii during summer as far north as you are. Dark colored pots might do the trick, or putting a few bricks or dark rocks around the base(s).

2 plants I dug up from ground to come inside in pots for winter. Each lost about 4-5 bottom leaves from the trauma but are back to looking just like they did. Will put back in ground soon, in a less visible but perfectly utilitarian spot. These things take up a lot of elbow room!

Sorry to hear David. My two are two-and-quarter years on. They still aren't very big but they are getting there. I think I put them in too dry of an area of the yard

I got another pineapple earlier this past week & wasn't thinking about it "plant-wise" at the time, but it was from the dumb little grocery store here that refrigerates everything. It's why I don't buy avocados there, they're always ruined by that cold. Anyway, this pineapple top is not going to be a new plant in my collection. By the next day, the leaves were all brown & falling off. I wonder if some trouble others have had could have been from this same reason - buying chilled pineapples?

Oops, the last one didn't make it. When I gave it to my son to give to my mom to eat half of it and I would get my part back from her after work, he was supposed to tell her I wanted the "top" half, with the leaves. She sent home a Tupperware with nicely cut pieces. Of course she did, she's mom! LOL!

Trying again with one bought a few days ago. Cut it so that about 3/4" of the fruit part was still attached & buried that part. Gave it a good drink the next morning. We'll see what happens. My other 2 already started ones aren't pineapple-ing yet, but are still growing.

Good luck on this new one Tiffany.
I should check and see if my pineapple is still okay..been rather remiss with it lately.

I had one, and a flock of doves landed in my yard and uprooted mine, along with some newly planted salvias.

Of course she did, she's mom! LOL!

I love that! Moms' are a unique kind of special.

In the fall I dug my pineapple plant out of the compost where it had rooted (accidently) and thrived. Dug it out so it could overwinter in the greenhouse.

After reading some bromeliad tips, I put it in a container of moist sphagnum moss and kept the moss damp.

A couple of weeks ago I removed it to replant in the same compost bed. I was shocked at how developed and healthy the root system looked.

So far the plant doesn't appear to be protesting being back in the ground.

I have tossed a couple more pineapple tops in the compost bed and am patiently waiting to see if they will root also.

If you really want to grow a pineapple to fruit, you can buy a plant on ebay for not all that much more than buying a store bought fruit. I recommend sugarloaf pineapple, they are very low in acid and very sweet. You don't have to cut out the core before eating.
That's how I started my pineapple collection! Started with a few ebay plants, then as they had fruit, they'd make a couple of pups that could then be potted.

My last one (3rd try) did not make it. It had been in the refrigerated section of that store. I think that may have had something to do with it.

The first 2 are back in pots after spending this past summer in the ground again. (With a LOT of Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi cuttings about to bloom.)

What size pot would be a minimum size to grow one in ?

That would depend on the size of the plant at the time. As you know, the little bit of foliage attached to a ripe pineapple is MUCH smaller than the plants that have grown from them. They get a little bigger every day. I did not crowd the roots into the pots they are in now, but probably chopped some off when removing from ground. I went around each in a circle and then did a bottom chop to get them loose. I tried to get the same size & shape of root ball & dirt as the pot, but did add a little extra fill in places. Tricky! These leaves are kind of mean if you go the wrong way along the edge, and I've trimmed the tip off of each one. They are sharp enough to easily go through skin.

I'm happy to share what I've done but please know, these are the only 2 pineapple plants with which I have any experience, never lived where pineapples grow in the ground, so I may not be cultivating ideal specimens. I have no basis for comparing my 2 plants to natural, unmolested plants. By no stretch of the imagination am I qualified to give advice regarding growing pineapples.

Really hoping the older one makes a pineapple this summer!

Howdy there purple
Probably to dry and hot hear. 100s not uncommon hear in valley.
Ttfn 😎😎😎

Update on 1. The other one is fine too but I just forgot to take its' pic.

Hay girl, is there a pineapple in there ? I can't see the forest for the trees !

Ttfn.

LOL! Yes. The Kal stems will be stuck back in the ground soon, separated from the pineapple, to be this years' "annuals." Since the pineapple & Coleus are such good friends, I'll leave them together again when also put back in ground.