Propagation – and why it’s so important

I’m propagating these pineapple tops in water. The water that is being used has been left out overnight before use in order to let the chlorine evaporate, as I feel it’s the right thing to do seeing as how I can smell the water as it comes out of my faucet… a lot of plants don’t like chlorine, so by default I do this for all of my beauties. Whether or not you decide to do this is your choice.

HOW TO PROPAGATE PINEAPPLES IN WATER

For my first post, I’d like to talk about propagation – specifically the propagation of pineapple plants. For those of you who don’t already know, propagation is basically the rooting – or the preparation of a plant for further growth.

To get it out of the way, I’ll let you know from the start, and it’s a fact that should be assumed when I mention it in any future post – proper propagation is necessary for the successful growth and development of your plants! When you take the time and care to do this, you’re not only almost ensuring that your time isn’t wasted, but you’re also helping a future friend strive and reach it’s fullest potential – assuming that you also decide to take proper care of your friend along the way.

The steps I took in getting these pineapple tops (shown above) ready for growing were really simple, and can be done by almost anyone within minutes. The first thing I did was twist the top off of a fresh pineapple that was really attractive, with nice green leaves, and a really prickly center (if you stick your finger into the direct middle of the leaf system, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about). Don’t be discouraged if the leaves aren’t as green as you’d like, seeing as how the leaves are going to be shooting off to the side and browning anyway when all of the new growth starts happening. The top will twist off of a pineapple fairly easily, with very little effort, and won’t shock the plant too much, so don’t be too apprehensive about twisting it off. It’s cool. No worries. The next step is the fun part – pulling off the bottom leaves – you just sent the plant into shock by twisting off the top, so you’ll actually benefit your pineapple by doing this. What you want to do at this point is take off the first few layers of leaves – the ones at the bottom will be kind of fleshy, and not as easy as the rest to remove, but don’t let that stop your developing green thumb… remember – that thing is opposable! The main goal here is getting the root system of your pineapple exposed – you’ll start to see it as you pull those outer leaves off, and once it’s exposed, it’s safe to peel off a few more layers. At this point, you’ve got a pineapple top with the root system exposed, and just the few top layers of leaves left. What you’ll want to do is to prop your pineapple top into some water – just enough water to cover the root system, as this is where the roots will be growing (of course). Once you have the top sitting in water, be sure to change the water at least once every two days to discourage rotting (I change my water every morning). If you allow your pineapple top to rot at the bottom because of unchanged water, you’re off to a bad start and it’s likely that you will have very little success. From what I’m to understand, you’ll have rooting results sufficient for planting in a growing medium within a month or two.

Keep in mind, people – I don’t claim to know everything, or even a whole lot about anything in relation to houseplants, horticulture, or gardening in general… as a matter of fact, as far as you’re concerned, I don’t know shit. I’m just a dude in tune with the earth and I happen to love green plants. I’m not into flowers. At all. Fuck them – they make my nose mad… With that said, I like leaves. Bitch.

Moving on…

The pineapple crowns that I’m using came from pineapples that originate from Costa Rica, grown organically. I get these pineapples from my workplace here in Southeastern Connecticut, and it also happens to be the first week of December, which means that as far as the United States go, I stand less of a chance than any for success with this project. In a week or so, I’m going to try a different propagation method that involves letting the tops dry out for a few days, and then planting directly into soil. I’ve been doing a lot of research over the last week on the subject of pineapple propagation, and I gather that there are a few ways to go about it, so I’m going to eventually try them all.

Naysayers tell me that I shouldn’t even bother with this type of projet at this time of year.

I say “fuck ’em”…

The one on the far left is the very first one that I started, which was only two days ago. The two in the middle were started yesterday, and the one at the very end was started only a few hours ago. The first one (far left) isn’t as green as the others, and that’s because it was the last of two left from a previous shipment of produce, and had been sitting in the walk-in for a little while… I really don’t expect it to do as well as the others, but only time will tell.

In my next post, I’ll be talking about avocado plants and getting them started. I’m just learning how to use this blogging site, so please be patient with me – I’m pretty sure I can get this blog a little more visually attractive soon.

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