I have been reading about rooting a pineapple in water...so after reading and watching several videos I decided to try it...So I got my store bought pineapple and removed the top, and set aside the fruit for peeling and eating later.

Interesting to see the roots hiding under those leaves:



So I just removed some more leaves and removed some of that yellow fesh and have stuck the top in a glass with water and some excess gel beads I got from another plant project...will wait and see how it goes! I have read that I can just stick this straight into soil...I just want to see how the roots form so I am doing this water method first..



Will update this as new things come about..

Just checked my pineapple top cutting, and just overnight, wow, quite active roots, there is already one new one showing:

I've rooted many plants in water but never tried the water method for a pineapple ... I've always just planted the pineapple top directly into soil. I look forward to seeing photo's of the progression of your plant!

Have been reading more and watching different folks procedure on the internet and I realized I did not let the cutting callus since I have stuck it in water immediately. So I made some slight changes on my method, instead of just water, I decided to add more water gel beads and some spare hydroton rocks. Hopefully giving it some avenue to get air around the root level, I may imitate trying to let it callus and at the same time give it some moisture thru the water gel beads. I have used the water gel beads quite well with Dracaena sanderiana, pothos, paperwhites and amaryllis and they root happily there, so I am hoping the pineapple will react the same way down the road..keeping fingers crossed! I like using the gel beads because the medium does not get to smell stinky and I do not need to do water changes so less bother to the rooting plant.

Clever idea. I think chefmike has water gel beads in his co-op...

I'm with Lin, rooted my pineapple tops by just sticking them directly into a pot of soil. With as many roots as you have already, I'd think you could go there, too. Might want to give it a "greenhouse" to increase the humidity around it by covering it with an inflated plastic bag until you see new leaves growing. Keep it warm and in good light.

Have you thought ahead to what you want to do with this plant? They get pretty big before they produce a fruit - mine's 3ft. across, 30in. high and VERY prickly! It also takes 2 years for a new plant to flower, even down here in Florida. (that's when we have a normal warm winter)

Hi Elaine, yeah I know they do grow big..have seen plantantions in the Phil where they happily grow under coconut trees

If this one becomes successful rooting, it will just be moved to a good container outdoors, to join my other succulents..just sticking with container gardening as always. Now hoping it does make it..otherwise..I will need to buy another pineapple to root

I am also curious how far along it will fare once put outdoors in our weather here..trying to push as much as it will allow it.

We rooted one, babied it for more than 2 years and finally just gave up and decided it was way too much trouble. I hope you have better stamina than we did!!!

I've rooted Pineapple tops a few times over the years and they always rooted easily but the only one that produced a fruit was back in the late 60's when my family lived in Miami. I planted it in the garden and waited and waited and finally saw a cute little fruit forming at the top ... then one day it was gone! For some reason someone had cut the little itty bitty pineapple right off! I don't know why and I never found out who or what (maybe a critter?) decided to take the little fruit but it was nowhere near the size to be ripe. The one's I've rooted since then have just grown until I get tired of them (I'm not into thorny/prickly plants) and throw them away. I've not kept any long enough to produce fruit. Same goes with rooting Avocado pits. I have one in water right now that's been sitting here for about two months ... no sign of splitting or sprouting yet. As I get older my patience grows thinner LOL so it might not end up hanging around here much longer either.

Ah the anticipation that turns into frustration! I hate that too

I know it will be a bit challenging to root and grow this pineapple top..have not gotten a good history with bromeliads..they seem to like to die out on me But then again, since they say the pineapple just maybe a bit more enduring, I am hoping it will fare a bit better.

When your pineapple is large enough and old enough to produce fruit you put an apple that is too ripe (going rotten) in the pot , the gas will trigger the pineapple to fruit.

Good luck

Thanks Cinda..will remember that good tip!

Cinda: That's a new one for this old gal ... thank you! I've known about putting an apple with other fruits to encourage ripening (or not to place apples close to other fruit which will cause the other fruit to over-ripen too quickly) but I didn't know the ethylene gas produced by apples would trigger a pineapple to set fruit ... very cool!

Week 2: Took a peek at my pineapple top..slowly removing the rocks and gel beads..so far seems doing good. I see little root nubs on the sides. The leaves do look ghastly as expected, but the part of the leaves that is still green has a nice sheen, reminds me of my amaryllis when it finally adjusted to a similar rock/gel bead set-up. The base of the pineapple top feels quite firm to the touch as well.

Maybe some day I may try this, just so I can say I did it.

Pegi: If you don't ever buy whole pineapple at your local grocery you can ask in the produce department if they by chance have any pineapple tops from when they cut and package pineapple chunks. Most of the time I buy containers of fresh pineapple chunks but on occasion I will pick up a nice ripe pineapple and ask one of the produce employees to peel, core and slice it for me and I also tell them that I want the top to root. The produce folks are always accommodating and within minutes they return with my sliced pineapple in a plastic container and the top wrapped in plastic for me. Even if it never sets fruit, it's fun to grow your own pineapple plant!

We had a large pineapple patch at a demo garden here, that was started from a garbage bag of free tops donated by the grocery store. Used to harvest quite a few edible fruits from it, too.

When I grew a nice one a few years ago, the same thing happened as Lin except I know who did it, a raccoon! One day just as the fruit was getting to smell wonderful I came out to the garden to find it with a big area chewed out of one side. I sprinkled cayenne pepper all around the plant but, the next day more was gone, and by the 3rd day it was eaten right down to the stem. Must have been a really good one. I did re-plant the top.

My conclusion from that is, if you plant enough of the thorny, spiny plants, the ones in the middle of the bunch will bear fruit for you, and the ones on the outside will feed the critters.

Tarev, as far as hardiness goes, I have three plants going now that survived our two cold winters, 2009 and 2010. Now the biggest plant has a little pineapple on it. Took it 3 years, where usually it's only 2, though. So probably the first cold winter set the plant back a year from setting fruit. I haven't had to use the over-ripe fruit trick because my pineapples are under a big live oak tree that drops leaves into the pineapple, so it gets the decomp gases naturally, I guess.

Our winters are mild but at times rainy, well except this past season..it got mixed up as with all other areas..it seemed winter was a tad chilly but drier and as Spring came, it remembered to rain more. That will be another experiment too, if this one does root properly and survives cold rainy winter. I know in tropical areas it does not mind the moonsoon rains, with temps being regularly warm ...will just push conditions as much as I can

Another tip: when you fertilize your 'pines', fertilize the bottom bracts....not into the crown....and don't use anything with a lot of salts.

We fertilize ours with Triple 14 or 16....and then after about a year, I use Bloom on them. Pines from Ratoons take about 18 months to fruit (at least around here). Ours live outside in 160" of rain per year...but they are planted in pure cinders.....

Carol,
Do you use tops or start another way?
Do they grow pineapples on your island