Did you know that pineapple (Ananas sativus) is a botanical rarity? I didn’t either until one day last April when my son, Dick’s pineapple plant, produced an exciting red-tinged bud from its center.
Only two days before, when it was being watered, I threatened to move it outdoors to make room as it had done nothing spectacular for three years.
Now, we watched its development with renewed interest. It would undoubtedly have wilted from sudden attention if not for its protective thorn-edged leaves.
Exciting Red-Tinged Bud
This dramatic budding was particularly gratifying to us since we had been through an excessively cold New England winter and delayed spring.
Outside, the ground was bleak, but new leaves were sprouting inside our greenhouse, and buds were thrusting forth on various tropicals.
Everything was coming along according to schedule except the pineapple, which I was sure would never be more than an odd house plant away from its native Hawaii.
Pineapple Growing Project
The pineapple growing project began three years ago. Thanksgiving when my cub scout son wanted to start something different.
Having read that the pineapple top could be rooted, Dick sliced it off evenly at the base of the tufted leaves and placed it in a saucer of water on the kitchen window sill in the sunshine, ensuring it never went dry.
Within a week, new, deeper green leaves grew from the center, forming an ever-widening rosette. After Dick’s interest waned, I lifted the rosette one morning to find thick white roots sprouting beneath.
When these roots reached two inches or so, we held a planting ceremony using an old clay pot with a drainage hole covered and garden loam.
It is now transferred to the house plant department. It receives water when dry and bi-weekly doses of soluble fertilizer. At Dick’s insistence, it accompanied us to our summer home.
The Joy of Patience
Patience paid off with this bromeliad. After the initial budding, the stalk grew rapidly, and in three weeks, we noticed half-inch blue furled flowers appearing from behind the triangular scales. They need no pollination, developing into so-called berries.
Thus, the unusual stalk turns into a fleshy fruit, putting out a new rosette of gray-green leaves at the top to form another plant. In the accompanying photograph, the berries may be seen.
The narrow, turned-down leaves are brilliant red, contrasting with the sword-shaped outer leaves, calling attention to the fascinating fruit.
Journey From Brazil To Hawaii
Pineapples were traded in Hawaii as early as 1850 and brought back by American whalers. Their intriguing design was carved over doorways, even on bedposts, as a symbol of hospitality.
Originating probably in Brazil and spreading throughout tropical America, the fruit was called piña by Spanish explorers from its resemblance to a pine cone.
When first grown as a money crop in Hawaii, each plant was determined to ripen by August 1st, but today, with modern methods, pineapples are a year-round commodity.
As the growing cycle in the tropics requires 20 to 24 months, we are more than pleased with our three-year production.
44659 by Barbara S. Lownes