Pineapple is the most amazing exotic plant in the world, which belongs to the bromeliad family that grows in the tropics and has juicy fruits with an impeccable sweet and sour taste.
These plants have a certain feature that allows them to absorb moisture not only from the soil, but also absorb it from the outside, in the form of rain or dew.
The fact is that moisture directly on the leaves of the plant flows into a certain reservoir in the form of a socket near the trunk and accumulates there.
Thus, even in the driest place of our planet, pineapple will feel good and at ease.
Also, pineapple can be grown in a temperate climate zone, when a person creates certain living conditions for him, placing fruit directly on window sills at home in dwellings and apartment buildings.
Features of growing pineapples
• It is best to grow pineapple from the so-called crest, located on the fruit.
• The preparation process is better to start in spring or summer, picking up not frozen, but only a fresh copy of the fruit.
• The tuft, previously cut from the fetus, must be thoroughly dried until the wound on the handle is completely healed.
• The pineapple pot should not be large, but supplemented by a drain for liquid.
• The soil for this plant must be mixed in equal proportions of peat and sand.
• For better moisture and disinfection, it is recommended to spill the soil with boiling water.
• After planting, pineapple should be covered with a plastic bag (cap) and placed in a well-lit and warm place.
• Within a month, the pineapple will overgrow with the root system, it is during this period that it is recommended to spray it with warm water without abundant pouring it.
• Pineapple top dressing is best done in the form of mullein, you can also use mineral fertilizers, but diluted in half.
• After two years, the pineapple should bloom in flowers with a pleasant and delicate aroma.
• At the end of flowering, the plant will begin to form a fetus - the growth process will take time from about 4 months to six months.
How to plant and grow pineapple at home - choose planting material
The first thing you need to get a ripe fruit, part of which in the future should become the best planting material. You can choose the right pineapple according to the following criteria:
• The pineapple flavor should be subtle and pleasant, not overly sweet.
• The fruit should be uniform in color, without any visible flaws.
• When pressed, the pineapple should spring slightly, and not be soft or hard.
• The leaves on the crown should be slightly dried along the edges, and the remaining parts are green and fresh.
• The sound with a slight pat should be muffled, then with confidence, we can say that the pineapple is ripe.
Important! If there are black spots on the pineapple or its leaves, the fruit is not tasty and will not be suitable for planting.
After the specimen for planting is picked up, it is necessary to cut off the top of the pineapple with a knife or by turning the fruit grasped by hand with leaves to the side - the crest will easily separate from the stem from the stem with ease.
Then, using a knife, it is necessary to remove the extra leaves to expose the trunk, from which the first roots will appear in the future.
Now the top with the trunk needs to be given time to dry. After that, the crown must be lowered into the water so that the entire barrel is immersed in the prepared fluid.
In a week, it will already be possible to make out the first roots on the planting material. For better growth and development during the period of root formation, it is recommended to renew the pineapple water so that the liquid is constantly fresh.
After the roots formed on the crown grow by a couple of centimeters, the planting material can be immersed in the soil, thus determining the pineapple for permanent residence.
Pineapple can be grown from seeds. For this, from a ripe sample, you need to get seeds of a brown hue. Then they must be washed in a solution of manganese, dried and sown in a prepared substrate in advance to a depth of 2-2.5 cm. After the soil needs to be shed well with some water, always warm and boiled. And then cover the pot with planting material with a film and install it in a warm place. After carrying out these processes, we can only expect the appearance of sprouts.
After the young plants will need good watering and top dressing in the form of chicken droppings or mineral fertilizers. After the plants appear leaves, they can be planted in individual pots.
How to plant and grow pineapple at home - soil, lighting, conditions for flowering
The soil
For planting pineapple, soil is required, consisting of garden soil, peat and sand in proportions - 3: 1: 2, which can be prepared independently.
You can also purchase a ready-made soil mixture for bromeliads or cactus crops.
The pot for the initial planting of pineapple should not be excessively large, a volume of 0.5 liters will be sufficient, with the presence of holes made for drainage.
When planting germinated plants in the soil, a certain order must be observed:
• Drainage should be placed in a pot no more than 4 cm in height, on top of which it is necessary to fill the soil mixture prepared in advance.
• The top must be planted in the very middle of the pot to a depth of about 3 cm.
• It is necessary to moisten the soil well and cover the plant with polyethylene, but so that the film does not touch the leaves of the plant, since the accumulated condensate can participate in the appearance of rot on the surface of the leaves.
The plant should be located in bright places with room temperature, but without drafts. The direct rays of the sun should not fall on the plant, it is important to periodically ventilate it by slightly opening the existing polyethylene to get rid of the condensate.
After 30-60 days, it is recommended to remove the polyethylene - the young leaves that appear will become evidence that the plant has taken root.
Lighting
Since pineapple is a tropical plant, the cold can destroy it. But it is necessary to take the plant to fresh air, so in the summer it can be placed on the balcony and or in the garden for at least 7 hours a day.
In winter, the pineapple needs to be in a warm room, but away from heaters and fireplaces. In winter, if you place a pineapple shrub on the south side - it will be enough natural light and heat.
If the grower in the room is warm and the room temperature is 22-27, then the pineapple feels good and comfortable.
Flowering conditions
Pineapple begins to bloom in 2-3 years of its life, during this process the tip grows, and radicular buds appear.
For better flowering, pineapple will need ethylene. Ethylene can be obtained in the following way - half a liter of water must be combined with 15 gr. calcium carbide. The resulting consistency should be allowed to infuse for a day, and then strain the resulting solution. The liquid should be obtained without sediment. After the composition should be poured over the course of a week into the leaf outlet of the fetus.
Thus, the pineapple will bloom for two months, and delight its owner. Luxurious blue flowers will open every day, but only for a day.
After the last flower dries, a juicy and tasty fruit will begin to form and develop in its place. Pineapple ripening time is 4-6 months, depending on climatic conditions and plant variety.
How to plant and grow pineapple at home - fertilizing and watering
Top dressing
For good life, pineapple requires constant top dressing, and since this plant is grassy, it needs nitrogen fertilizer.
During the growing season, a slightly matured plant needs to be fed, namely, a mullein solution every two weeks. Before the fruiting, such top dressing will be enough, since the dung fluid includes all the most important nutrients and trace elements.
It happens that pineapple grows a large and beautiful plant, but does not bear fruit. This means one thing - pineapple needs stimulation. At home, stimulation can be carried out only after the plant has fully grown, formed in the warm season.
You can stimulate the plant in different ways:
• Fumigation with smoke.
• Pouring a solution of acetylene into the middle of the rosette of the leaves of the plant.
• The greenhouse method - under polyethylene with a can of water installed and a piece of carbide dipped in it.
A couple of months after stimulation, a peduncle will appear.
Watering
In the warm season, the rosette of leaves must be constantly moistened and filled with 2/3 of some water. Water needs to be changed every 30 days. Be sure to look so that the soil in the pot dries out. Water for watering pineapple should be soft, if possible rain and warm.
During the growing season, the plant needs moist soil. During the heat, you need to take care that the earth is completely saturated with liquid, but has time to dry out. Water should be boiled or settled, and also slightly acidified with lemon.
In winter, when the temperature of the earth drops, it is more advisable to stop watering.
Pineapple at home: why does it die?
Since pineapple is an exotic plant, which means it is very tender and vulnerable, poorly adapted to other living conditions, it can die for the following reasons:
• Pineapple can be affected by arid air - spider mites, mealybugs, and scale insects, which cause brown spots, aphids, and phylloxera to appear on the plant.
• Due to lack of moisture, the leaves of pineapple can dry out and thereby expose the plant to great danger. In this connection, pineapple must be constantly sprayed and watered.
• Due to lack of light, the leaves may become pale.
• Due to malnutrition, pineapple can slow its growth, not bloom and not bear fruit, and soon wither and die.
• The plant can easily be destroyed by drafts, because of which the pineapple leaves sag, twist and dry.
• Due to excessive moisture in the soil, the plant may begin to rot at the very base, so that the pineapple does not die, urgently need to rearrange it in a warm, but ventilated place and dry the ground. But if the rot rises even higher, the plant will definitely die.
Subject to all the rules for growing pineapple at home, you can easily grow not only a large and healthy plant, but also treat yourself to juicy and tasty fruits of this tropical shrub.
