Ascension : Let’s start a Pineapple plantation on Ascension - A great way for fresh fruit
Submitted by The Islander (Islander Editors) 11.03.2010 (Article Archived on 25.03.2010)

1. Choose a fresh pineapple from the grocery store. A ripe (but not overripe) pineapple is best. Here's a tip--if the leaves pull out quite easily, the pineapple is too ripe.

Step 2

2.      Once home with the pineapple, take a sharp knife and slice off the leafy top part of the pineapple. Make sure no fruit remains on the bottom, as it will only rot and may keep the top from rooting properly. Once all the fruit has been sliced away, continue to make thin slices until you can see little round circles on the cut surface. These are root buds, where the roots for your plant will develop. By slicing the top to reveal these, the process of rooting can be sped up. Take off the bottom leaves (about an inch up) to make a stem for planting. But you aren't ready to plant just yet. You must first allow the cut end to dry for about a week. This allows the cut end to recover and also to dry out.

Step 3

3.      After a week, you can prepare your pot. Use any good potting soil that has good drainage, as pineapple plants can be damaged by standing water. Place the pineapple top in the soil (stem end down), and press the soil firmly around the stem until the leaves are firmly settled.

Step 4

4.      Your plant needs lots and lots of sunlight, as pineapples are tropical plants. Pineapple plants can not tolerate indoor or outdoor temperatures that are less than 60 degrees F (16 C). Cooler temperatures will kill your plant, so make sure that you keep it in a warm area inside and out. Place in a large pot with a good mix of soil and compost keeping your plant moist but not too wet.

Step 5

5.      Now you will have to be patient as your pineapple plant grows. It can take up to 2 years for the plant to reach 25 to 30 inches, which is the size it needs to be in order to produce fruit. You will know that your patience is about to be rewarded when you see a flower bloom in the middle of your plant. This is the beginning of your pineapple! In time, you will see what appears to be a small green pine cone, but in reality is a baby pineapple. You can watch it as it grows, a treat in itself, but the real treat is the ripe pineapple! When the pineapple is about the size of the one you started your plant with, and is a golden yellow colour about halfway up, you can pick the fruit. It's best, though, to wait until the whole pineapple is yellow for a taste treat you won't soon forget!

            Mike