Bromeliad
PINEAPPLE: How to Cut, How to Grow
How to cut a pineapple
- See photos below.
- Select or allow pineapple to ripen so that the outer "peel" is golden. It should be ripe enough to twist off the top. If you can't twist it off, it is not ready.
- Cut the top "peel" and bottom off. If you don't cut all the brown "eyes" out, just cut again.
- Sit the pineapple on its bottom and cut downward to remove the "peel".
- Still sitting on its bottom, cut in half from top to bottom.
- Cut each half in half again so you have 4 quarters.
- Lay each quarter so that the core, or center section, is laying on the cutting board.
- Trim the core out and keep for smoothie sweetening.
- Slice or dice the remaining pineapple and serve.
- We love ours room temperature with a few maraschino cherries for color.
How grow a pineapple from your pineapple leftovers
- See photos below.
- Twist off the top of your pineapple. If you can't twist it off, it is not ready.
- Take the top and remove a few "rounds" of the lowest leaves exposing a few root buds.
- Allow to dry for a day or two.
- Shove bottom into the ground so it has good contact with the soil.
- Water occasionally into the center of the leaves.
- No special care required. We grow ours in pots so that when it fruits two years later, we can bring it on the lanai so the raccoons don't eat them. They are not freeze-proof but can take a light frost.
- After your plant fruits, use that top to start a new plant AND twist out any suckers that are growing out the side of the mother plant and also shove those in the ground.
- We have about 30 plants, each growing in 7-gallon pots, so that we have a pretty consistent flow of pineapple through our kitchen.
For more on growing pineapples, see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg055.
Pineapples being born
These have been posted previously but they are so beautiful I am including here again.
Pineapple almost ready to harvest
Not golden yet, perhaps in a week or two.
Note the sucker below the fruit.
