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Probably thinking that I am completely lost it. But check this out! It is possible to grow pineapples in North Dakota. Well, it is not like you can plant it in you garden, but… it is still possible with some TLC.
Pineapples are tropical plants. They grow about 2′ tall. It is considered to be more grass then a bush. They don’t tolerate cold temperatures below 50 F. But they are fairly easy to grow as potted plants since they root system is small. Pineapples don’t require full sun what makes them suitable for indoor growing.
Growing pineapple it is pretty long time investment. It takes about one year to get first fruit. And all you get it is one fruit per plant. But it is so much fun to grow it! And it is always nice to prove skeptics wrong 🙂
To start growing pineapple in your house you need to get good start. It is as simple as buying pineapple in the grocery store. Choose the one with the greenest tops. Take a close look to inner part of the top and make sure there is no visible rot present.
Once you bought pineapple and brought it home it is time to do things right. Take sharp knife and cut the top with about 1/2″ of fruit. Then remove the fruit flesh leaving the middle hard part. Remove all dried out leaves in any from the stalk. Leave it to dry for 12-24 hours. Now we ready to plant. Pineapple doesn’t like water absorbing soil like peat moss. It would do better in lighter, well draining soil like compost dirt and sand mix. Choose about 2 gal pot. When soil is ready place pineapple stalk into it and bury it just a little bit to keep plant upright. Make sure keep soil slightly moist, but never soggy wet. Pineapple actually absorbs most of the nutrients and waters through the leaves. Never fertilize pineapple with artificial fertilizers. That would kill the plant. If you think it need more nutrients just add some organic mulch (like wood bark, grass clippings) around the plant.
So now it is waiting part. If you succeed, in about a month you will see new leaves starting to grow out of the middle of stalk. Never over water! Just let it grow. If it is summertime, you can leave potted plant outside in partial shade. In cooler months keep it in sunny warm bay window or by french door. If attempt was not successful you will see all stalks turning gray, dry or middle rotting. In this case you will know in about 2 weeks, that plant didn’t survived. You will have to try again.
I am doing this experiment real time, so you will have to come back to check for updates how my plant is growing 🙂
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