It’s easy and fun to grow a pineapple - so next time you enjoy a delicious, sweet tasting one, keep the leafy top to grow your own. They also make attractive indoor plants for a sunny windowsill – hello, tropical style!

Things you will need:

  • The top of a delicious pineapple (as unmarked and fresh as possible)
  • A sharp knife (always supervise children using sharp instruments)
  • Good quality potting mix
  • Hormone rooting powder
  • Gardening gloves
  • A pretty plant pot
  • A clean glass jar
  • A small watering can

Steps to planting your own pineapple:

  1. Cut the off the top of the pineapple with a sharp knife just below the bottom leaves. The leaves can be a bit spiky, so wear some gardening gloves to protect your hands.
  2. Clean and prepare the top of your pineapple for planting by gently pulling off all the remaining pineapple fruit – if you leave any, it will rot and your plant could die.
  3. Now that you just have the leafy top, carefully pull off the bottom leaves, working round in circles until you have about 2cms of clean stalk showing. If you look closely, you will see that there are baby roots forming under the base of the leaves.
  4. Dip the end of the stalk into the hormone rooting powder and leave your new plant to dry overnight.
  5. Fill the jar with water and sit your pineapple top on top of it, resting the leaves on the rim of the jar, making sure that the water level reaches the bottom of the stem. If the water starts to go cloudy, replace it with fresh water.

Place the jar somewhere out of direct sunlight so you can watch it grow. After about two weeks you will see the new roots starting to appear. When the new white roots are a few centimetres long, they’re healthy and it’s ready to be planted.

  1. Plants always grow best when they feel loved and cared for, so find a pot you love and make sure it has a hole for good drainage.
  2. Fill the pot with good quality potting mix, and firmly press the pineapple into the top of the pot. Water carefully around the roots and firmly press the soil again, making sure that the pineapple is securely planted.
  3. Pineapples don’t like too much water. A drink once a week should be plenty to keep the soil just moist. Position the pot in a brightly lit area or on a sunny windowsill. After two weeks, fertilise once a month with liquid feriliser.

It will take about two years for your pineapple to produce a fruit. If you live in a warm, frost free environment you can plant it into the garden, but if not, it will live happily inside as an indoor plant.