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There’s nothing sweeter than biting into a
freshly cut piece of pineapple. And if you like really fresh pineapple, and
have a couple years, guess what? You can grow your own!
Find
yourself a pineapple that has a good looking set of foliage on top,
especially the center leaves at the crown. Then, cut off the top, where the
crown and fruit come together.
Gently peel
off the lower leaves and clean off any leftover fruit. Set this aside for a
day and let it dry and callus a bit.
In the
meantime, fill a wide shallow pot (with good drainage), with your soil-less
potting mix, and add a few tablespoons of coffee grounds to make the soil
more acidic.
Then, plant
your pineapple top so the soil is even with the bottom of the crown. Water
well, and mist the foliage with a little diluted water soluble fertilizer.
Pineapples take many of their nutrients from the nutrients dissolved in
rainwater, so this will simulate rain feeding. Keep your pineapple in a
sunny area indoors, moving it outdoors during the summer, and watch it root
and grow.
Now, getting
a pineapple to set fruit takes time and a little trickery. Give your
pineapple a year or two to mature. When you’re ready to try to get it to
flower, place a couple ripe apples in a plastic bag, along with the
pineapple, and tie it closed. Leave it like this for about a week or so.
The ethylene gas produced from the ripening apples will help encourage the
pineapple to flower and eventually set fruit. |
