I ca n’t tell you how much fun it is to create beauty from kitchen waste . I also really roll in the hay free plants .

Withpineapple ( Ananas comosus ) , you could have both .

From the leafy top of a pineapple plant — the part you would normally toss orcompost — you could grow a beautiful plant life that may bloom and produce yield .

On the edge of a tan gravel path are two ceramic pots. In the visible vessel, a pineapple plant is growing with long, green leaves reaching out in all directions. The bricks that line the walkway mark the barrier for other small plants to thrive.

Photo by Gretchen Heber

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Let ’s get start !

First, We Eat

Select a healthy pineapple at the grocery store that has attractive , healthy - looking foliage . Slice the top part off about 1/2 inch below the substructure of the cluster of leaves .

Cut up the rest of the pineappleas you usually would , and chow down as you prepare the top for planting .

Trim away the tough out “ skin ” of the pineapple plant top , and hit a few of the lowest leaves . Place the crown in a sunny post to dry out for three to five day . This allows the moist core tissue to dry and discourage rotting , according toRichard Jauron at the University of Iowa Department of Horticulture Extension and Outreach .

A collage of photos showing different views of pineapple regrowing from the tops.

Photo by Gretchen Heber

Next , you may then either place the crown into weewee or soil .

Water Method

To root the tip in water , insert toothpick around the perimeter of the crown and suspend it in the water as you would anavocado endocarp . instead , observe a looking glass container the crown will just “ sit ” in .

Place the container in a smart smirch with indirect light , and change the weewee once a week .

root should form after 2 - 3 week in the water bath . When the roots are 2 - 3 inches long , you’re able to transfer the crown into a container of light soil admixture .

Pineapple plants growing in pots.

This method acting is particularly fun forgardening with childrenin the winter , since they can check on the progress of the source as they grow .

Soil Method

utilise a light soil mix made with perlite or vermiculite and moxie . introduce the peak in the grunge up to the base of the leaves and place in shiny , collateral sparkle .

Keep the stain moist , but not squiffy . Rooting should come in 6 to 8 weeks .

If you live anywhere other than geographical zone 10 or 11 , you ’ll want to keep your tropical works in a container and bestow it indoors before the first frost . Super - southerners may be able to implant directly in the landscape .

A large pineapple rests on the edge of a dark wooden table. The fruit is standing vertically with its tall, pointed leaves reaching out of the frame. The wall behind is a dark shade of blue.

I recommend using a soluble houseplant plant food to feed the plant once or twice a month during spring and summertime , and just once monthly in fall and wintertime .

I have to make a confession : I did n’t make out any of the above when I started my first pineapple plant flora from a kitchen chip . I just edit out off the top as I usually do , and stuck it in a pot of who - know - what soil out in the backyard . And it did just fine on my property in Texas , rooting and grow a beautiful leafset .

To Fruit, or Not to Fruit?

Some folks enjoy these plants as houseplants year ‘ round . Others , like me , bring them indoors when it ’s parky but fall them to the yard come springtime .

Wherever your plant resides , make trusted it gets at least six hours of hopeful light per daylight . Allow it to dry out between tearing .

Ananas comosus are moderately slow - grow , and you might not see blooms for two or three twelvemonth , if at all . My oldest plant is about three twelvemonth sometime and it has yet to bloom . But candidly , I ’m just well-chosen with the foliage . If it blooms , that would be a bonus , but I really just like the long , shiny , sword - alike leafage .

A large pineapple with the top chopped off is in two pieces on a cutting board. The crown of the fruit has been cleaved and trimmed in preparation for growing. The bottom portion is left standing, ready to be cleaned and eaten.

Some experts say to put your ananas plant life in a plastic travelling bag with an apple , which releases blossom - induce ethylene gas . This may encourage inflorescence in two to three month .

If you do get a fruit , see it off when the away skin starts changing from browned to yellow . But be deliberate to beat the greedy squirrels to your bounty !

Mother Nature’s Marvel

I am felicitous every time I walk by my pineapple plant industrial plant — I love getting something for nothing . And I love when visitor ask about the unusual industrial plant that ’s placed conspicuously on a walkway in the backyard .

I get to tell them it was from a fruit our household use up a few long time ago , and they ’re amazed . And then I tell apart them to just cut the top off , clean house it up a petty spot and puzzle it in poop , and they ’re even more amazed .

photo by Gretchen Heber , © Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more item .   Top uncredited photo by Gretchen Heber . Other uncredited photos via Shutterstock .

The crown of a pineapple has been separated from the rest of the fruit and neatly cleaned up to prepare for planting. The green pointed leaves dominate in size compared to what’s left of the produce attached to its end.

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Gretchen Heber

A freshly planted pineapple is growing in a blue and white ceramic flower pot. The soil is filled up to the bottom of the crown of the fruit. The tall, pointed leaves protrude high away from the soil. It all sits on a tan tile floor.

A pineapple flower is beginning to bloom with bright pink blossoms. The soon-to-be fruit sits atop a long, narrow, vertical stem. The green leaves of the plant radiate out in all directions from the center.

A nearly ripe pineapple is perched at the top of a vertical stalk. The fruit has a slight red tone with longer tendrils than normally seen in these. The plant that bears it has long, rigid and narrow leaves that protrude out in all directions. The plant appears to be growing in a tropical environment.

A pineapple plant with long, spindly green leaves protruding out in all directions is growing in an orange, ceramic flower pot. The vessel is sitting on the edge of a walkway made of small, tan gravel and lined with lightly colored stones. In the background, countless smaller plants cover the area away from the path.