02-02-2004, 04:12 AM
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pineapples
Michelle wrote:
I'de like to grow a pineapple from the top of the fruit just to see if
I can do it .
snip
any one know how to cultivate a plant from the top?
I've had considerable success (about 80% of the times) by
cutting off the top c. 2 inches of the fruit, then tirmming
away the jucy part, leaving just a cylinder about the size
of the base of the crown, removing a few of the basal leaves,
turning it upside-down to dry & callous for a week or two,
then planting it in a lose organic mix -- being careful not
to over-water at first, but keeping the humidity high and
misting the top lightly with water daily, preferably in the
mid-morning (like most Bromeliadacea, the leaves have little
scales that trap water which is absorbed by glands underneath
them). After it's well-rooted, I feed lightly about once a
month.
Don't expect to get tasty fruit, however -- that requires a
big plant and a tropical climate. (Well... okay, I _did_ get
reasonably good (though not very sweet) fruit from plants I grew
in the greenhouses at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, but
that wasn't under house conditions.)
Don Fitch,
Covina, CA.
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