Have you ever seen pineapple flowers before? To satisfy your horticultural curiosity:
Most people know that pineapples grow in Hawaii, it used to be a big industry on Kauai with fields and large canneries in both Kapaa and Lawai. I have read that pineapple flowers are the reason that there are no hummingbirds in Hawaii. The colorful hummingbirds would probably thrive here but the pinapple industry doesn’t want them imported because they can pollinate the flowers, which produces unattractive little brown seeds in the fruit. Pineapples are still a major crop for the Dole and Del Monte companies on the islands of Lanai and Oahu, although Del Monte has announced they are quitting because they can grow them cheaper elsewhere.
Most people have also heard you can cut the top off a pineapple and it will grow into a new plant, so I decided to try. The first thing I didn’t know is that it takes 18-24 months to grow another pineapple. We planted some tops at the other house we rented and later moved them to our new house. They survived the move, and I’ve been planting new tops whenever we get a sweet pineapple from the farmer’s market. So we now have have a prickly pineapple patch which I keep well watered. What really surprised me is that pineapple plants produce flowers and that the flowers, in my case, are purple. I always thought the flowers were internal, that the little red leaves were the flowers.
Pineapples are the only edible plant in the showy bromeliad family, and are still very decorative. In case you want to try outside the tropics, you should be able to root a pineapple top and maybe grow it indoors behind a sunny window during the winter. When you eat a pineapple, cut off the green top at the point where it meets the fruit. Peel off the little leaves at the base to expose a 1/4 inch (.5 cm) of the stalk. It may already have some root buds. Sit the top in a small glass with enough water to submerge the exposed stalk, and place on a window sill—the one in our kitchen below isn’t even very sunny. When it has as many roots as the one on the right, plant it in good soil with plenty of compost, water it twice a week and expose it to as much sunlight and warmth as possible—for two years.
Beautiful picture of a blooming pineapple. Good info.
thanks that is just the information that I was looking for
Thanks for the photo. I was just carving a pineapple and realized those little holes must correspond to part of the flower and the seeds grow within then, only I’d never seen a blooming pineapple. Except this 2nd $1 pineapple had no seeds – guess it wasn’t pollinated.
Thanks for the insight.
What state did you grow them outdoors?
Hi David, sometimes the farmer’s market pineapples in Hawaii have a few seeds, they’re small like a sesame seed and dark brown. But without hummingbirds, I’m not sure how they were pollinated. The commercial pineapples aren’t pollinated, so no seeds. I’ve only grown pineapples outdoors in Hawaii, and I’ve never tried anywhere else. I was thinking that they might grow in colder places if you had an indoor (heated) sun room to keep them from getting cold, but that’s only a guess.
I stuck 2 pineapple tops in a 20″ pot of dirt on the south side of my house in south Florida last year. I’ve been enjoying the foliage, especially since it sent up a third plant on its own. Not being a gardener, I was happy with a plant that lived! Now however I have a purple flowering little pineapple with 2 more developing. So thrilled that I just planted 2 more. I didn’t root them first; just peeled off the lowers leaves til I saw root buds and stuck them in dirt as instructed by a gardener friend who has lotsnof them.
I’ve heard you don’t need to root them in water first, so it’s great to have confirmation that it works. Just remember to make sure they are watered after you plant them. Like most bromeliads, the leaves are cup shaped and hold a bit of water, so once a week is usually enough.
Hi Andy,
I looked up blooming pineapple because it is the first time that I see purple flower on one of the pineapple. I have never rooted them in water. Just planted them on the south side of my home in South Florida. I was wondering why they don’t get large. Should I fertilizer them? I have 7 little pineapple growing. It took about two years to show up. Once they bloom will I get them once a year.
I my self have grown a few pineapples. This year 2018 February
Is the first I have seen the purple flowers
Also I have cut the tops off the pineapple and just palnted it straight in the grown with miricle grow and I always get nice pineapples
I tried this at my dads house in Florida and it worked I got one pineapple less than two years. Is it true they only grow one pineapple each plant? The one I grew was delicious better than any I bought in a store
Hello,
I have a question, I live in Calgary Alberta Canada. I’m currently growing a pineapple in a climate were it gets down to -30 Celsius in the winter, but our summers are quite hot. I’ve been growing a potted pineapple for just over 2 years now (indoors in the winter, outdoors in the summer) A couple months ago I went through the process to get my pineapple to fruit. It has just recently in the past week started to show signs of a flower forming within the crown. I’m trying to find out if the pineapple has to be pollinated at all to produce the fruit. (As I understand all other fruit has to be pollinated to produce fruit) If anyone is able to answer my question that would be awesome as I’m so excited to even have my pineapple flowering!!!!
Thank you so much for any information you might have
Sincerely
Jason Drechsel
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Hi Jason, I am no expert but my understanding is that pollination is not necessary for the plant to fruit. In fact, pollination was undesirable in the pineapple industry because it would create seeds in the fruit. So I assume the fleshy fruit not influenced by pollination. In fact, Wikipedia says: “because seed development diminishes fruit quality, pollination is performed by hand, and seeds are retained only for breeding.”
Good luck with your plant, my pineapple tops never grew fruit as big as the originals, but I never did anything special with them. Maybe at this stage you could fertilize the plant and give it extra water to encourage a larger fruit.
Hey Andy,
Thanks for the great info. Since it has started to flower and I cut off some of the brown/dead leafs it has started to really grow fast. It’s awesome1
Thanks Again