Gardening today smoothly migrated from garden beds to window sills. More and more people grow not only greens, but also cucumbers with tomatoes. And can this experience be transferred to tropical pineapples? Yes, it is quite. Today we’ll talk about how to plant a pineapple and grow it with minimal time.
Three ways
In fact, at home only one is possible. But in fairness, let's briefly talk about everyone.
- The seeds. To begin with, it is worth noting that it will be quite difficult to find them on sale. Therefore, you must first buy a ripe cone and extract seeds from it. Add to this a long growing season. Therefore, this method is used quite rarely.
- The top of ripe fruit. Since we buy pineapple for food, the tip is usually thrown away. Why not do a little experiment. Today you will learn how to plant a pineapple, and you can repeat this experience at home.
- Overgrown from a ripe fruit or a dead bush. Also not the best option, because it takes a lot of time. In fact, it will be necessary to create conditions so that seeds begin to germinate inside the cones. They will sprout.
Varieties of Pineapples
There are 8 species of this tropical plant. But with us on sale most often you can meet only three of them.
- Large-domed. Adult pineapples are used as an ornamental plant.
- Bract. It has very beautiful leaves with a light border. But fruiting at home is extremely rare.
- Pineapple. Today there is a special, dwarf form that can be grown at home.
Choose planting material
Since the final result depends on this, it is necessary to approach this issue with all responsibility. In the cold season, frozen fruits are often sold. They are suitable for food, but will not give roots when trying to plant the green part. Therefore, it is best to buy pineapples, which are sold in August - September.
So, we choose the most beautiful fruit, without damage and rot. Since it will be possible to plant pineapple only after you cut the fruit, there is time to prepare the soil and study the features of the care.
Close inspection
If you bought several fruits, you will still have a chance to choose the best among them. Surely the landing will not be done on the same day, so the cones will have time to finish a little more. And then give them a little check.
- Smell the bought cones. Choose one that exudes a pleasant smell.
- Carefully inspect the fetus. Leaves should be hard, without spots or holes. Dry top - set aside.
- Press on the fetus with your finger. Neither too hard nor too soft will suit you.
- When tapped, it should make a dull sound.
Now you can go directly to the question of how to plant a pineapple.
Separate the top
For planting, we need only the green part, everything else can safely be cut and served for dessert. Therefore, remove the crest from the fetus in one of the following ways:
- Twisting.
- Cutting. Leave a distance of about 5 cm from the leaves.
Method One - Rooting
The first step is to dry the sultan a little. Do this in a simple way, tying a crest in a dark place: leaves below, and a slice at the top. In a few days it will be possible to continue its work. Before planting a crest in the sand, sprinkle the cut with activated charcoal.
If you are looking for the easiest way to plant pineapple at home, then you can assume that you have already found it. By following these recommendations, you can definitely grow an exotic plant in your home. But it will be difficult to wait for fruiting from him. Although in itself it is quite beautiful, similar to a plant of the bromeliad family.
We grow the top in the water
Not everyone likes the previous method. They buried a crest in the ground, closed it with a lid - and it is not known what is happening there now. And I want to control the whole process. We already mentioned that you can plant pineapple at home in many ways. Let's look at rooting in water. In this case, the whole process takes place before your eyes.
If you notice signs of decay, you can always cut this area, sprinkle with activated carbon and continue the experiment.
- In this case, you need to fill the glass with water. It needs to be constantly changed. It is very important that microbes do not start to multiply in it.
- In order for the plant to actively take root, it must be warm. Therefore, choose a place with good lighting and high air temperature.
- After about 14 days, you will notice white roots.
- In a month the first leaflets should appear.
- Now you can plant the sultan in a permanent place.
Choose a pot
If you did everything right, then now you have a top rooted and moving in height. How to plant pineapple at home to maintain this progress?
- First condition: do not take a large pot. The maximum volume is 0.5 liters. Otherwise, the pineapple, even rooted, will not add well in growth. A large amount of good quality soil negatively affects the root growth, and hence the green mass.
- Be sure to make large drainage holes. Best not only in the bottom, but also on the sides.
- Fill the bottom of the pot with pebbles.
As the soil, a mixture of sand, peat and humus is used.
How to plant pineapple
By this time, several dozen white roots should already be protruding from the top. This creates excellent conditions for your plant to quickly take root and please the first leaves. The embedment depth is small, about 5 cm. It is very important to fix the sultan so that it does not fall. The soil should be slightly moist. Separately, it should be talked about if the plant is planted without roots. Just cover it with a bag for about a month and a half.
Often, beginning flower growers have difficulty preparing high-quality soil. Therefore, you can buy ready-made in the store. For this, mixtures for bromeliads are most often used. The soil for orchids is also perfect.
To create a microclimate, it is recommended to make a greenhouse or hood. Since planting a pineapple at home usually occurs in the fall, when it is no longer too warm, this measure will provide more chances for successful rooting.
Care
- The first step is to harden the plant. To do this, you need to start opening the greenhouse for an hour a day. Gradually, this time is increased and after a couple of weeks the shelter is removed completely.
- A very important point is watering. Do not overfill or dry the earthball. The pot should be slightly moist. In this regard, underfilling is even better than overfilling. Therefore, every day you can check the earth and pour a little water.
- Feeding is carried out every 8 weeks.
- The first transplant occurs in a year. After this, the procedure is repeated every three years.
This is a tropical plant. Despite the fact that it successfully acclimatized to indoor plants, it retained its love of high humidity. Therefore, be sure to buy a water spray and use it regularly. It is necessary to spray not only the leaves, but also the air near the pot. It is very important not only to know how to plant a pineapple, but also to create suitable conditions for it. Then you can enjoy your own fruit. Often, flower growers can not wait for flowering and fruiting, but still remain satisfied that they were able to grow a tropical miracle on their window.
The long-awaited moment
A reasonable question arises: "Is it possible to stimulate the flowering of pineapple?" If you just take good care of the plant, in about a year it will produce a magnificent flower. Of course, most often this is the first signal that you are maintaining the plant correctly. Soon you will be able to wait for your own fruit.
To make the pineapple bloom faster, add acetylene solution to the plant outlet in the warm season. Repeat the procedure 2-3 times. Do not forget to repeat the feeding procedure. If the plant lacks nutrients, lighting or heat, then it will not bloom. Therefore, pay attention to the following points.
Plant care
Contrary to the misconceptions of flower growers, a tropical plant is not always moody. In particular, with regard to pineapples, even a beginner can grow them.
- The room should be warm, it is desirable to maintain the temperature within +22 ... + 25 ° . It is under these conditions that the plant will develop rapidly, become a magnificent bush and produce a flower.
- Do not forget about the second important point - lighting. In the shade, you will not succeed. Pineapple can be cold on the windows, and dark in the distance. Therefore, you will have to install a fluorescent lamp.
- In nature, this plant is accustomed to heat and prolonged drought. Therefore, the main mistake is excessive watering, especially if they are carried out with cold water. It is enough to water a couple of times a week, and in winter even less often.
- Top dressing should be done only in the warm season.
You will wait for the first fruits in about 3-4 years. After this, the plant shoots for another 2-3 years, which quickly release roots, and dies. Now you can use these shoots to grow new plants, you do not need to root it from the top again. How to plant a pineapple at home and grow it with a strong plant, you already know.
Instead of a conclusion
Growing tropical plants is interesting and exciting. If you like to grow not the usual tradescantia, but something more interesting and unusual, try planting a pineapple. Moreover, this does not require additional costs. You will eat fruit for dessert, and plant the sultan in a pot. Even if nothing comes of this idea, the loss is small.
But focusing on the tips presented, you can quite easily grow a fragrant cone at home. Of course, this will take quite a while. But each owner of a room lemon, orange or other fruit tree will say that its taste is not as important as the fact that it was grown by hand.