i bought decorative pineapple for xmas for an arrangement sometime ago and couldn't resist trying to root them.
may be 10 days after buying the stem below the little pineapple went mushy, so i cut them off. They all had nice crowns, but 1 was quite small, it didn't make it to the end. but 2 took.
you need to cut the stem may be with 1 inch of the top of fruit, but then remove the pulp and also carefully remove the bottom leaves - you should be able to see little root nubs. It's much harder for them to grow though the leaves, so you definitely need to give them better access.
you can then recut shorter if your roots are far from the bottom.
Next it needs to air dry for may be 4-5 days. Then i planted them in pure moist large perlite and put cling film all around the crowns to stabilize them and keep them firm in perlite and also to keep the perlite moist longer, as it dries up very fast.
and so they sat in their plastic mushroom tub for sev months in part sun. Didn't root for the longest time, and after sev months i had to scrape mold off the bottom and disinfect it in half peroxide solution for 30 sec, put cinnamon then on the bottom too.
eventually they did root in may be 6? months. Then in november i finally transferred them into a mix of peat, coco peat, coco chips, bark and large perlite - very free draining. I keep all my broms and other tropicals in it.
original pineapples dec 2016
crowns sitting in the tub june 2017
mar 2018 - the bigger of the 2 started new growth
i think it's Ananas comosus var bracteatus 'Tricolor'
original pineapples dec 2016
crowns sitting in the tub june 2017
