Pineapple, anyone?

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karlmale Saint James, NY(Zone 7a) Apr 14, 2013

I have a very healthy pineapple plant, about four feet tall, and just about as wide, in a pot, started 5 or 6 years ago from a store-bought fruit. It is, to my eyes, getting quite enormous, but I haven't seen any signs of flower or fruit. What should this plant have in order to get it to fruit? It is fine as it is, but I would really like to see it do SOMETHING other than just grow larger and larger! I have heard that putting a ripe banana into the water "well" of this bromeliad will provide it with necessary potassium for fruiting, but, so far, it is only hearsay, and I want more confirmation before I attempt that. After all, it is living as a potted houseplant most of the year, and only summers, in bright light, during a few months outside.
Can anyone advise me? Please?

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nelsoncastro Victoria, Australia Apr 17, 2013

Keep soil consistently moist – not too wet, not too dry. Repot a plant when it outgrows the current container. Although the pineapple plant is a Bromeliad, it is not an air plant and requires a soil bed. Getting a pineapple to bear fruit is harder than growing one. Once your plant is approximately 25-30 inches tall it will flower and produce fruit on its own. But how many people have the space for a 30 inch plus spiky plant? It will take at least two years to grow a plant of that size in a temperate climate.

There is a way to force your plant to flower and bear fruit when it is half that size. Wait until the winter season when the days are shorter and the nights cooler. Pineapple plants normally begin to produce fruit during this time. Place the entire plant, including the pot, into a plastic bag with some ripe apples. As apples rot, they emit Ethylene gas which tricks the plant into forming a flower instead of producing new leaves. Keep the plant in the bag with the apples for approximately 2 weeks or so. Place the plant back in a sunny window and wait for a flower spike to form in the center of the plant.

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