“Why do you hate plants Mommy?”
Margaret was giving me the 3rd degree once again for her decaying Earth Boxes. My MIL has a green thumb and she truly loves gardening. Gardening and exploring in her prolific back yard is something special she and the girls do together. We call her yard Jin Jin’s Jungle.
But sometimes she overestimates my ability, or even willingness to take care of plants and will send things home with Margaret for “Margaret to take care of” that are “so easy”. And she’s right, but my ability level is somewhere between fake plant and succulent.
So as Margaret basically called me a plant murderer I told her, “well, JinJin was such a good mommy to her baby, but now her baby is grown up and lives with us right? But I still have babies at home don’t I?”
“Yeah, me and Catherine!” Margaret agreed.
“Right, so what kind of things do we during the day Margaret?
Margaret lists alllll the things …
“Yep,” I reply, “so it can be hard to take care of plant babies too. One day maybe, but right now, they’re a bit tricky for me to squeeze in. So I don’t hate plants, but sometimes I forget about the plants!”
One thing we ARE trying to grow are pineapples. My mother-in-law has written up a detailed instruction guide for taking a grocery store pineapple and turning it into a back yard harvest. Curtis’s effort was fruitless – pun intended – and if you want to see more of that I saved it to highlights on my Instagram. But we’re going to try again because so many of y’all have assured me it can be done!
How To Grow A Pineapple, by Janice Hamlin
Pineapples are bromeliads and the top of a pineapple bought at the grocery store can be used to grow another pineapple.
1. Cut the green top off the pineapple. Make the cut approximately ¾ – 1” below the green leaves.
2. Set the cut top outside in a shady area for a few days so the cut area can “scab” over. This is an important step.
3. Pineapples like sun. If you live in central or south Florida where there is very little chance of freezing temperatures, they can be planted directly in the landscape. Scrape away a bit of top soil and plant the top. That’s it. Try and remember to give a little fertilizer from time to time. Like most bromeliads, pineapples prefer to be fertilized lightly, but often. I usually use a timed release fertilizer and put it on the ground under the pineapple. Do not put it in the crown of the plant. I do not give supplemental water – the rainfall is enough.
4. Pineapples do not tolerate cold temperatures. If you cannot plant directly in the ground, they can be grown in a pot. You will need to use a large pot or plan to increase pot size as plant grows.
5. A pineapple will produce a new fruit in approximately 18-36 months.
There is lots of information available about growing a pineapple. When looking for plant information, I always refer to University of Florida EDIS system first.
