The Big Pineapple

Nothing says summer like a sweet juicy pineapple. Pineapples are the easiest plant to grow. Granted they’re a long term investment and will test your patience. But you don’t have to DO anything while you wait.

Nearly ripe

You can grow a pineapple from the crown of a previous fruit (even from the shops!). Chop the top off, pull away the bottom few rows of leaves to expose some stem and then plant it straight away, or sit it in water and wait for roots to grow and then plant it. After that just wait 2-3 years and you’ll be harvesting your own homegrown pineapple. (Succession planting for the win if you want a steady supply!)

Waiting for roots

The best thing about a homegrown pineapple though, is you can pick it at its peak. Some fruits will continue to ripen after they’ve been picked (called climacteric fruits) - they continue to respire and the starches are converted into sugars. Pineapples aren’t one of these. Their starch comes from the stem and once they’re picked they won’t get any sweeter, though they will soften and become juicier. A ripe pineapple is yellow all over and smells divine, so even though you’ve waited years for your pineapple to fruit, it’s worth waiting a little bit longer till it’s perfectly ripe!

Pineapples (Ananas comosus) are in the bromeliad family (bromeliaceae) and originated in South America. The name pineapple is derived from the Spanish word piña because they look like a pine cone. In many other languages they are known as ananas, which is said to be derived from the Tupi word for ‘excellent fruit’.

Pineapple flower. You can see some purple petals still at the base. This keeps growing and develops into the fruit, eventually sprouting the crown of leaves at the top.

There are also a number of miniature pineapples and ornamental varieties that while technically edible, won’t have much flesh - but they do make cute additions to flower arrangements and cocktails!

A ripe miniature pineapple, 12cm from the base of the fruit to the top of its crown!