"D Russell" wrote in message
Has anyone had experience growing pineapples in the uk? In the garden
centre it said that although they are the commercial variety, it does
not get hot enough to ripen them here and they should be grown for
ornament only. Would a greenhouse not get hot enough? What temperature
do they need.

Well I have a 5 year old pineapple grown from the top of a supermarket
bought fruit, it's still growing strongly, and I keep my fingers crossed
that it will do something eventually.

Me likewise! They're easy to grow from the tops of the fruit, but take a
few months to get going. Most of the original leaves from the 'crown'
will shrivel and die.

I have two pineapple plants. One is from a Queen pineapple (the
very small ones that taste great but are expensive, with serrated leaves).

The big one is two years old and now has leaves two/three feet long with
wicked spikes on the end All I do is move it from outdoors to indoors for
the winter, then back out again. It hasn't gone out yet this year. While indoors
it sits beside a sunny window. While outdoors I don't give it any special
protection except bringing it in if the weather's windy, cold and wet.
Normal rain and cool summer nights don't seem to bother it.

It hasn't flowered yet. I read somewhere that the flowering process needs
initiation using ethene gas (e.g. from ripe apples). This may be a way
around the lack of heat and light.

Nick H. (Surrey).