Growing your own Pineapples

Homesteading with Rachael Pascoe

How to get started

The best way to save a pineapple head is to gently twist it off. Once you have the pineapple head, have a good look at the bottom of it. What we are looking for is little white nodes, which is where the roots will form. Now, you could certainly plant it out in the garden as is, but it would take a lot longer for the roots to form. Let’s give it a good start by getting roots formed on the pineapple head before we plant it out.

Growing roots

The best way to grow roots on your pineapple head is in a glass jar. Half fill a glass jar with water and place the pineapple head in, so the bottom of the pineapple head is just in the water. You will need to keep an eye on the water level and refresh the water every few days. This is why it is a good idea to have a clear container to grow it in. It will take about 4 weeks for strong white roots to form. If you have many heads to grow out, like I had recently, you can jam them all in a container, so they kind of hold each other up. This has worked well to get a lot of them started at once.

Planting out

Pineapples love to be in full sun. Have a look around your garden, notice where the sun is and the time of day. Pineapples take 2 years to fruit, so let’s get it planted in the right spot from the start. Plant your pineapple head out in good soil and keep it watered. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see any growing action for a long time. Keep caring for it and the plant will reward you with a pineapple in time. Any variety of pineapple can be propagated in this way.

As your family are enjoying pineapples, keep growing the heads out and planting them in the garden. This way you will have a nice little supply of your own pineapples to enjoy. My only job now is to beat the possum this year! I don’t mind sharing some garden goodies with the possum, but not all the pineapples.