Pineapple plant blooming

John Hoffman of Salisbury grew this pineapple plant, which is about 5 years old. This is the first time it has bloomed. Photo by John Hoffman.

John Hoffman grew a pineapple plant from the top of a pineapple that he had cut off and planted in potting soil.

“The plant is waist-high after about five years of growth and has been transplanted several times into larger containers,” Hoffman writes.

“This is the first time that it has bloomed, and I have another one that was planted about the same time. The other plant has not ever bloomed, but perhaps it will sometime in the future. I have always kept the plant indoors in the sunroom where it gets plenty of light. I have seen pictures of pineapple plants before, but I have never seen any of them in bloom.

“The blooms are purple and are on each point of the actual pineapple fruit as it grows. The one that I have now is about the size of my fist, and it is beginning to get green shoots out the top of the pineapple.”

Darrell Blackwelder, Rowan Cooperative Extension director, offers tips for doing what Hoffman did.

“Rooting a pineapple top is easy. It’s a great way to show different propagation methods to students or just for fun.”

When shopping at the grocery, select a fresh pineapple with healthy foliage. Cut off the top of the pineapple about 1/2 inch below the lower layer of leaves and remove a few of the lowest leaves. The pineapple top should then be allowed to dry for several days.

The drying period is important because it discourages rotting. After it has dried a few days, place it in a sterile growing medium and water. Keep the rooting medium moist, but not wet, during the rooting period.

Locate the pineapple top in an area of bright, indirect light. Rooting should occur in six to eight weeks and the plant can then be repotted into a larger container. Place the plant in bright, indirect light for two or three weeks.

Keep the plant in a bright room and take it outside in late May, but it must come back indoors before the first fall frost. Pineapples are slow growing and mature in two to three years. At maturity, flowering can be induced by placing the plant and an apple in a plastic bag for three or four days. The apple gives off ethylene gas which stimulates flowering.