Hello, Pineapple!

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A pot in our backyard birthed a pineapple. I certainly had nothing to do with it. I was working upstairs in my office, and I came outside to find Nate in the backyard, planting things, and there was this lovely pineapple plant that he brought home, and is it wrong that my first instinct was to want to slice it open right away to see if it was “real” or an imposter and find out if it was ripe and tasty?

Yes and yes. So wrong—because what a lovely little thing to have! It’s my favorite plant now—and with its sword-like leaves, I’ll bet, when the sun goes down, it can take on the palm trees and rhododendrons in a fantastic, epic duel—worthy of a Nintendo Wii “Fruit Ninja” showdown.

And now it’s time for random facts gleaned from Internet searches:

–You can plant a pineapple from the crown of another pineapple, which is Nature’s way of recycling, I guess—but you only get one pineapple per plant—and you have to have a LOT of patience to wait for it to grow. Or, you can just buy it already “mostly grown” (as we did) from places that have names like “Flowerganza Land of Flowers and More Flowers and a Few Birdhouses” and “Hyped-Up Garden Freak-Out,” which has a gazebo, duck pond, and coffee shop.

–Some of the leaves that stick out from the pineapple plant are called “slips” or “pups,” and you can plant another plant from those as well. See this article from the University of Florida Gardening Solutions. The thing to really point out here is the word “pups.” Pineapple plants produce pups! That is sooooo cuuuuuuute! All those dog lovers out there will be incredibly jealous when you say you have pineapple pups. They’ll imagine the floofiest pooch with a precious pineapple crown—and that’s how you get people to come to your house and water your garden for you.

–Things can go terribly wrong when growing a pineapple. For instance, the pineapple might fall off the plant, and when it does, it’s dead, and you have to wait like a million more years (actually 3) before another one grows—from another plant/pup that it produces. Also, pineapples can develop something called “heart rot.” It comes from overwatering the soil, and once heart rot sets in, there’s no stopping it, apparently. But the pups can be saved—and replanted. (See this article from Plantify)

–Pineapple plants can survive in temperatures as cold as 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but they’d really prefer not to, so if you live in a climate that gets cold in the winter, you might want to bring your plant and pups inside.

Potentially, I might have a pineapple and pups year-round, if we bring them inside the house, where they’ll play and sword fight together, taking on houseplants that, quite frankly, could use a little excitement.

Your Turn: Do you have any strange or unusual plants?

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Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

26 thoughts on “Hello, Pineapple!”

  3. I’ve thought about trying to grow pineapple but it seems it would be more of a novelty than for actual food because it takes so long to grow so little. We have been experimenting with growing lion’s mane mushrooms. I do plan on writing about it when I get time.

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    1. This thought actually crossed my mind: Is this a fruitless endeavor? Probably, but I’ll take the risk 🙂 I can’t wait to read about your lion’s mane mushrooms. Cheers!

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  4. I have no plants, strange or otherwise.
    In primary school (I think you call it elementary school) a friend’s parents owned a pineapple farm. I remember spending a day on the farm with him and it was so much fun.

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  7. a post after my own heart! Happy pineapple grandparenting, Cecilia!

    I have a row of pineapple tops that look good but seem to be sterile. I also have some aloe vera plants, and guess what, they have pups!

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  10. No unusual plants on my balcony, but some years ago I happened to have small tomatoes growing in a pot, and I didn’t plant them

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