Pineapple Project
 

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 Introduction
There is nothing I would rather eat than fresh Pineapple, and after visiting the Dole Plantation on Oahu I decided it would be fun to try and grow one of my own. I learned that this is a long term project, and that among other things you have to practice patience (a virtue that doesn't really come to me easily).

I looked at a couple of websites and learned some basics. The sites agreed on many points, but it is also obvious that there is no single manner in which to grow a pineapple, so we just thought we would stay with the basics.
 

 

 

 Step one:
Go to the store and buy a nice pineapple and enjoy! When I cut the plant (leafy section) I went about  1-inch below to preserve the top. When I was done cutting the remainder of the pineapple for serving I returned to the top. I cut off the edges until it looks like what you see below.

I left the tag on so you can see that we used nothing special. It is a pineapple that was purchased at Sam's Club in the produce section of the store.
   

Step 2

 
This part was a little more difficult to decide what to do. Some sites I read said to allow the cuts to heal overnight, while others said to allow them to dry out for a few days. I decided to allow mine to dry out for about 3-days.
  Step 3
Once again, I decided to not follow the instructions from many sites that said "bury the fruit slice in an 8-inch pot filled with general purpose potting soil and water it thoroughly." Instead I chose to put my pineapple plant into a small container filled with water and place it outside for a couple of weeks.

  

   

Step 4

 
   After 2-3 weeks of making sure the bottom was under water I removed it from the container. You can see the roots that were formed very well in this picture.

Today we are starting a new pineapple so you can see the 3-week old plant as compared with the new plant.

It's not hard to tell that the plant has grown in size, and that the root system has formed.

 We took the older plant and moved it into a 10.5 inch pot filled with potting soil bought at our local supply store. We didn't use any special blend of sand to soil, we just used the soil as it came out of the bag.

The younger of the two plants will go into the water container for 2-3 weeks until a good root system has been formed, and then we will pot it, and probably start another plant.
   

Step 5

 
  This is a plant we started last year. you can see that the growth is slow.

Move your pineapple plant outside in the summer, and in the winter, keep it indoors near a sunny window.

Pineapple plants are good outside down to about 65°, but if you leave it outside below 65° it will go into a hibernation cycle and growth will stop.

When the plant is outside I water my  plant about 2-3 times per week, even though I've read that it only needs to be watered once. We have been in a hot/dry spell so I have been watering more often than is probably needed to compensate for the lack of rain. Indoors I water very lightly  once per week.

We're looking forward to producing a fruit next year. To help in this process we will wait until the winter season when the days are shorter and the nights cooler. Pineapple plants normally begin to produce fruit during this time. Then we will be putting the plant into a plastic bag with one apple for a period of 3-7 days, and placing the plant in a shady area of the house. This is said to produce Ethylene gas that will help a flower germinate which must happen before we get fruit.

By the way, when your plant is approximately 25-30 inches tall it will flower and produce fruit on its own. The process of growing the fruit can also allow the plant to "expand" or "reproduce". There is a chance that we will get a few stalks that grow out of the side of the plant that can be planted and the entire cycle starts over.
   
   

Step 6

 
 

After a mild winter (we kept the plants on the patio) we had a great surprise in that we now have a pineapple growing on our plant. I was afraid that we might lose the plants after some over spray went their way when we acid washed our patio..
       
  Step 7