I have always been fascinated by people rooting and growing pineapple plants. I have seen them with blossoms and seen them with a pineapple growing. I have great luck rooting them but have never got one to bloom.

I received the instructions on growing them and the secret on getting them to bloom. So here I go again and I thought I would share the know how with you. The instructions are from a newsletter Garden Gates  and it says we can pass it on to our friends.

 

First, cut the leafy top from a fresh pineapple. Trim the extra flesh from around the leaves  and strip the bottom few rows of leaves. Then turn it upside down and let it dry for a day or two.

 

Next plant the top, right side up, in a 8-inch pot of well drained potting soil. Firm the soil around the plant's base and water it thoroughly. Fertilize when you plant and then every few months after that with the same fertilizer you use on your other house plants.

 

Move your pineapple plant outdoors in the summer, but in winter keep indoors near a sunny window. Water the soil about once a week to keep it moist but not wet.

 

After a couple years, your plant should have lots of healthy foliage and be ready to produce fruit.

 

Put the potted plant in a large plastic bag with an apple. Then move it to a shady spot. The apple gives off ethylene gas that will encourage the pineapple to bloom and set fruit.

 

After three or four days, remove the plant from the bag and move it back into the sun. A few months later,  flowers should appear followed by a red comb and eventually a small fruit on top. It will take the fruit about six more months to mature.