IFAS Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service
The pineapple, Ananas comosus, is a popular world-wide
fruit familiar to almost everyone, and can be grown easily either as a container
plant or in the landscape. Pineapples are a member of the bromeliad family
and are native to Tropical America.
Pineapples come in a number of different varieties, but
most have long thin strap-like leaves bearing spiny tips, and usually
small spines along the leaf margin. Although some varieties of pineapples
have no spines, most of the ones found in nature do.
Pineapples reach a height of about three to four feet
at maturity, with a width of almost six feet, and take from sixteen
to thirty months to reach maturity and produce their delicious fruit.
Most fruits flower in our area during the late winter and spring with
the fruit ripening during the summer months.
Plants should be protected from cold weather since they
can be injured by temperatures below 32°F, and will be killed
at about 27°F.
When growing outdoors, grow in full sun or light shade
for best results, and make sure the soil is slightly acid, since they
do not do well in high alkaline soils. When putting pineapples out
in the garden, space the plants twelve to eighteen inches apart, and
make sure you leave sufficient aisles for walking between rows if multiple
rows are planted.
Many people like to plant pineapples on a slight bed
to be sure that they receive well-drained conditions. Plants do poorly in
soils subject to regular flooding.
Propagation of pineapples can be from the crown, which
is on the top of the fruit; suckers, which are below the fruit; or ratoons,
which originate from below ground at the base of the plant. Generally,
most people start pineapples from the crown of the fruit, but this
is considered one of the poorest planting pieces, while ratoons are
considered the best propagation material.
Pineapples are subject to nematodes on sandy soils and
improving the soil with organic matter will help to slow down this problem.
Mealybugs are a major insect problem in some areas, and often attack the
root of the plant in addition to the top portions.
Plants in the soil must be in areas that have warm temperatures
for proper growth, and often during the winter months plants stop
growing when temperatures reach 55°F or lower.
Fruits come in many varieties, but all at maturity are
yellow or golden yellow. Don't pick fruit until full maturity for
best quality. The following varieties are grown in Florida and have
proven to be very well adapted: Smooth Cayenne, Red Spanish, Abakka,
Natal Queen, Pernambuco and several others.
Weeds may be a major problem in pineapple patches because
of the spiny leaves, and at the beginning when plants are first installed,
a three to four inch layer of good mulching material should be put around
the plants. This should eliminate weeding for at least one year.
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