Re: Pineapples are ripe

Thanks much!


Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Aug 2, 2005, at 12:28 PM, james singer wrote:

> Yes, you can use tops of supermarket pineapples. Both Dole and Del  
> Monte market premium quality fruit, so either one will do. Most of  
> mine are offsprings of Del Monte "Gold."
>
> When you fix the pineapple, cut a slightly larger piece off the  
> top, maybe one that's 3/4 inch thick. Let it sit on the kitchen  
> counter for a few days. The flesh will begin to go south. In about  
> a week, you can strip the skin and flesh from the top. What you  
> will have is the top attached to a short piece of the core. Plant  
> it in rich soil that drains well. I use Florida black sand, which  
> is simply sandy soil with humus [in my case, rotted pine needles].  
> I mix blood meal, bone meal, and cottonseed meal in the potting  
> mix. Plant the whole piece of core, right up to the bottom of top.  
> Keep it moist, not wet, not dry. Give it a handful of osmocote  
> every 4 or 5 months.
>
> I root mine in the lathhouse--shade. I grow my plants in the shade;  
> lots of light, but no direct sun. I would think they would fruit as  
> a houseplant. They're just a terrestrial bromeliad, and a pretty  
> tough one at that. In 18 to 24 months, it should start to flower.  
> At first you'll notice a dome-shaped bump in the crown. It will  
> look like a pincushion of gold pins. Pretty soon, it will emerge  
> from the crown on a stem and begin to bloom--small purplish  
> flowers. I don't know what pollinates them, but I've never had one  
> that didn't get pollinated. At this point, they look like a  
> pineapple. but small [baseball size] and green. They take 4 or 5  
> months to grow to size and ripen. Keep fertilizing them. They are  
> ready to pick when they begin to turn yellow. Ripen them fully on  
> the kitchen counter. Eat, enjoy, and plant the top.
>
>
> On Aug 2, 2005, at 12:08 PM, Cathy Carpenter wrote:
>
>
>> Jim,
>> I know you've probably given me this before, but could you go through
>> what you do to the tops to ready them for planting? And could I use
>> tops from a supermarket pineapple?
>>
>> Cathy, west central IL, z5b
>>
>> On Jul 30, 2005, at 6:26 PM, james singer wrote:
>>
>>
>>> We have 12 30-gallon pots with pineapples in them--one plant per
>>> pot. Four of them fruited this year. When they fruit, the plant
>>> dies, but it sends out suckers first. We've found, however, that
>>> rooting the tops of the fruit is better than trying to save and re-
>>> pot the suckers, so when a plant fruits, we usually clean out the
>>> pot, re-mix and fortify the soil, and start all over. It takes an
>>> average 18 months from pineapple top to edible fruit. But soooo
>>> good [!] because we don't have to pick them green to get them to
>>> market.
>>>
>>> We've got two more 30-gallon pots in the patch that we're trying to
>>> fill with yard waste that will compost down and make new growing
>>> pots--but that's a long process, mostly because I forget about
>>> them. Originally, we had wanted 24 pots, but I doubt that we'll
>>> ever get there.
>>>
>>> On Jul 30, 2005, at 7:00 PM, Cersgarden@aol.com wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Jim, you have pineapple on ranch?  How wonderful!
>>>>     Ceres
>>>>
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>>> Island Jim
>>> Southwest Florida
>>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
>>> Hardiness Zone 10
>>> Heat Zone 10
>>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
>>> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>>>
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>>
> Island Jim
> Southwest Florida
> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
> Hardiness Zone 10
> Heat Zone 10
> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>
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