Propagating pineapple plants
How do you replant the shoots/suckers to make new pineapple plants?
Pineapple plants can produce one or more shoots (also refered to as suckers) at the base of the mother plant. To make new pineapple plants, wait until the new shoots are 1/3-1/2 the size of the Mother pineapple plant or when they have developed a small rosette of leaves. Shoots grow fastest when attached to the Mother plant.
To remove the shoot, cut it at the base with a serrated knife or shears. It may or may not have any roots. Some sources suggest that it should not be removed until it has a root structure. Roots are better but don’t panic if there are none.
Plant the pineapple shoot in a pot of sandy well-drained soil. The same way you plant a rooted pineapple crown. Roots should start to develop in about a month. An established root system will take several months. Once new growth begins to show, start feeding with a well balanced fertilizer once a month or 1/2 strength twice a month.
If you have a large, healthy pineapple plant that has a shoot growing while fruit is still developing, you can leave the shoot attached to the mother plant. Once the mother plant is done with her fruiting cycle, the new shoot will produce additional smaller fruit in a shorter time.
more info on growing pineapple
I’ve had a pineapple growing in a raised bed for the past 3.5 years. It finally bloomed a few weeks ago and the fruit has been growing nicely. Unfortunately, I need to move to a new apartment in a couple weeks. I would like to repot the plant and take it with me but I’m afraid doing so might kill it. Has anyone repotted a plant before while it was fruiting? Did it survive?
I grow pineapples in eastern Zimbabwe where we have very good soils and perennial rainfall. My problem is that each batch of cropping takes too long to fruit. What are the best fertilizers for this wonderful plant to enable quick fruit production ?We have access to chemical, organic,compounds, singles, etc etc but need to know which ones excel.
Hi! I have a pineapple plant that flowered but a chipmunk broke the flower off will it still fruit our will it die it has been a mouth but nothing has happened with the plant.
Kevin
Hi. I purchased a pineapple plant from my local nursery, and I’ve had it about 3 months so far. I’m in Texas and I’ve put it in a pretty big pot. It’s grown a pineapple maybe about 4 inches big but the leaves on top of the actual pineapple are maybe double that size if not more. It appears that only those leaves are growing and not the actual pineapple itself. It gets at least 5 hours of sunlight a day and I’m very cautious when watering. Is there something I’m doing wrong or is there any tips that could help my situation? Thanks!
I have a pineapple plant I planted about 5 and a half years ago, It has been killed by freezing weather twice. Since then it has another plant grown with two shoots , both the shoots are producing fruit at this time.
My honest to god question is how is this possible, It has frozen twice and died off. now I have two shoots that come up from a dead plant. They are both Producing Fruit! how..??
Hi Donny
It’s possible that the plant wasn’t totally dead producing new shoots was its way to survive. Pineapple will fruit once and then produce new offsets that will also produce usually smaller fruit.
I grew a pineapple plant (from a top) for about 14 years and it did nothing. In the process of moving/re-planting/fertilizing I must have done something right and it flowered and produced a pineapple last year.
It also produced a sucker and a slip that are both now way bigger than the original mother. Is it too late to separate one of them so that they are not competing in the same pot? (the pot is huge) Its been about 9 months since they started growing.
Hi. ? I accidentally knocked a 2″ pineapple with 3 babies off the mother plant’s stem. Can I repot the 4 mini pineapples? & should I prune tge stem of the mother plant or is it going to die?
Hello! I have five 20-month old plants that used to be abou 4 feet across and two feet tall. Unfortunately, we had some 6 degree temps that my heat lamps couldn’t keep up with. So, most of the leaves except those in the center froze. The crown is fine and still growing. I pruned all the dead leaves and repotted. They are now in my recently finished greenhouse (day late and a dollar short) at 60% humidity and warm. Here’s the question: Do you think they will fruit?
I live in Oxford, UK. I successfully started off a pineapple crown July 2012. Last year (2014) it grew a sucker at the base. I carefully removed when it was 1/3 size of main plant. It has grown on well. However my husband dropped the main plant when he moved it three months ago to friends conservatory. He’s just told me as the plant has become detached from roots and fallen over in pot. I’ve taken plant and stripped off bottom leaves and will try and root again like crown. but will roots in pot,which are a good size, send up another sucker or shall I throw away?
Hi Wendy
That’s a good question. I have never experienced that. If you had some of the base of the plant (above the soil) It might send out a shoot. I don’t think the roots alone will produce a shoot.
Hi my pineapple plant is about 3 years old now and while there is absolutely no sign of it fruiting anytime soon it shoot out a sucker from the side and from all the research I’ve done they usually only do this after or durring it’s fruting and when it’s about to die so I don’t know what to do with this sucker it’s gotten to be a little more than half the size of the mother plant and I want the mother plant focusing its resources on its self to start its mature stages of its life like fruiting because while it might be a mature pineapple plant it’s not as big as one usually is and no where close to fruiting so would it be bad to remove the sucker and if I do will the mother plant start focusing on growing its self rather than growing another sucker because the mother plant hasent grown a cm since this sucker came along and it’s had that sucker on him for almost half a year now
Now that I told you everything there is to know about my plant I just want to know what would be best
To remove the sucker in hopes that the mother plants starts to grow again and hopefully fruit soon
Or
If I remove the sucker will the mother plant focus on producing another rather than growing itself
Thanks for the help looking forward to your responses
All 8 of my potted pineapple got crown rot, I am assuming, in them while outside this summer. I pulled out all of the loose leaves about a month ago and the rest of the plants look great, with large green leaves with no browning on the ends. The centers all look dry down inside now, but no sign of any new growth. All plants are either shoots or slips from plants that have produced pineapple within the last two years, some are very large. My question is “will they grow new leaves from the crowns or do I need to toss them all? I am getting ready to go to Florida for the winter and usually take a couple of the larger/older plants with me.
Hi,
I live in Central Florida and have a pineapple top in a plastic cup partially submerged in water. The top is still green with browning on the tips of the leaves. There are two shoots about an inch and a half tall growing out of the side of the base of the top, but only with a couple of roots. The shoots look really healthy. Should I plant in a pot now or wait longer for more roots. Your help is much appreciated.
We live in Iowa and winter if Florida for 4 months. I have a fruit growing on my pineapple that will not be ready till about August. Can I transplant the plant to a pot and take it with me back to Iowa? We will not be here when it is readyt o eat.
I live in Florida for the winter months. About 3 1/2 years ago planted 2 pineapple tops. Grow into huge plants. Over 3feet tall 3 feet wide. No sign of a blooming fruit. In Nov. put a cut up apple in the cores and covered them.. Now both are staring to bloom . Do not know if it was the apples or if just finally started on their own.
Question : I am hoping they will be ready to eat in June before we leave to go up north .. While we are gone the plant may produce “shoots” can the survive on the mother plant if not separated and planted indiviually since it will be months before I return to my plant.
Just noticed today that there is the start of a second plant in my huge pot. The bigger plant is starting a fruit the second plant is skinny but about a foot long.. At first I thought it was just some new leaves but I followed it down to the base and it is a separate plant.. I did not think they had shoots until after the first fruit.. This plant has me confused.. Do I need to pull the second plant out . It is in a huge pot?
Hi Roz
Once the pineapple plant set fruit, its job is done. It can either die or produce more plants. A healthy plant will send out sucker/off shoots to reproduce. see the above article for more info.
Kris
Hi, I live in the UK I had started growing a couple of crowns from two pineapples. They both suffered from heart rot during the summer, but then produced new shoots from the centre instead of the side of the mother crown. The new leaves are quite big on both of them and the mothers leaves have died over time. The shoots have grown directly on top of the original stump, but towards the bottom of the crown it is very narrow. They are becoming quite loose… What should I do? Should I break them off and plant them into other pots? At the moment I have held them up using sticks
Thanks
Hi I have two pineapples that are in small pots and now need to be re-potted as they are root bound. I live in Florida where nothing ever seems to stop growing ! is it safe to repot now in September as I fear loosing them if not..they have really outgrown the pot and cant seem to get enough water because of it..
thanks!!
Suckers
I have a a pineapple plant that I started from a crown about 2-3 yrs ago. I didn’t know about drying it but it grew anyw ay. This year it flowered and I have a baby pineapple. It is still green right now. I was researching trying to find out when it will be ready to pick. We live in Central Alabama, at first I wasn’t even sure that it would grow at all but to have a baby pineapple has impressed me. I noticed the other day that there was what looked like another baby pineapple (just the green leafy part) growing about middle ways of the plant between the leaves. After reading several internet chats I think this is a sucker. My question is how long will the mother plant produce fruit? Should I dispose of it after I harvest the fruit? I kinda hate to, it is a very healthy plant right now.
Hi I have a question. If you are planting in a raised bed, how many inches of soil do I need to plant pineapples? Thank you.
Hi I live on Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys. in the past month we have had 4 of the biggest pineapples I have seen! I grow them on the porch in containers. I am so happy I found this site. I have several plants growing from the mother and now I know I will leave 1 on and transplant the others. I also have them growing in half barrels in the back yard. They all have pineapples on them. Thank you for all the great information!
Hi again,
I now have 2 in dirt, Thanks so much for your help, I have started a few more and i have one that is dark brown with no life of green showing anywhere but the roots are starting to come in, lots of root buds. but not a drop of green anywhere, should i continue to see where this goes or is it trash?
and the second one is brown in the center but the outer leaves are green, not sure whats happening here.
Thanks Ruth
Forcing to bloom
Hello, My Pineapple plant is now going on 4 years old with no baby yet. Two weeks ago the first sucker has come up, and is growing quickly. We live in the midwest Chicago area, and follow the general watering and
nutritional needs for the plant. My question is; When should I bag the plant to make it flower and produce a
baby? It is now the end of sept. here and it will be coming in for the winter. Thanks; Fred
hello i put a pineapple top in water and it began to grow some roots. but then the leaves started turning grayish and wrinkly and dry-like and stiff. what is the cause of this and please , how can i save my plant? i live in zone 6a but keep my plant indoors by a windowsill with plenty of light
Hi there, I wonder how did you all manage to get the pineapple plants flowered?. Were they all flowered naturally or induced by ethephon, carbide etc?.
I have 2 pineapple plant that i have had for about 2 years and i have not gotten any fruit yet. But I have had (3 on one) and (4 on the other) shoots coming out of both of them. but the shoots are not coming from the bottom, they are coming out of the top. My question is can i transplant them. I have other plants that do have shoots that are coming from the bottom,but the ones from the top will not have roots. Thank you
i have a pineapple plant that has produced one fruit it is in a small pot is it safe to repot it ,it also has a sucker
Thank you for all your information on growing pineapples. We live in the tropics and have had a delicious fruit from one of our potted pineapples. I did not separate the suckers soon enough and now the mother plant is producing another pineapple. Will it hurt the mother plant to remove the suckers now? My concern is that there will not be enough nutrition in the pot for the mother plant and the 3 suckers.
Hi Kris,
I have a question about Bromeliads but could not find a page to post it, so am using this page!
I have 2 Bromeliads; one is the mother plant with an additional baby that is barely 2″ in growth. The other is a pup I separated & repotted, which has grown to almost 4″ in height. It shows no signs of blooming & I was hoping you could advise on how to speed things up. It has a tank which I make sure always has water. Plus I moisten the soil every week or so depending on how dry it looks. I have used Miracle Gro once a month on the soil & was wondering what else I could do to get some beautiful blooms.
Also, the mother plant seems to be slowly “dying”, with leaves every so often turning yellow & limp. Is there anyway it will re-bloom? Or should I discard it once the pup is large enough to be re-potted.
Thanks!
Ike Beal
May 24th, 2008 at 9:33 am · Reply · Edit
Fla Keys here. Been growing pineapples for about 6 yrs. Have 20/25 fruits each season. They bloom around Feb each year. Makes for great eating in July.They are in various settings as I learned that after 2 yrs they don’t have the same wonderful taste. I plant some pups, tops and leave some plants to grow on the mother plant from the pups. Even won best in show two years ago. This year I’ve had several die in the same pot as I have used in the past. Lately, half grown fruit have fallen off the mother plant. (Maybe due to the dry conditions) Is there any possibility to replant these half grown pups and fruit? No roots as they have been fed from a small stem from the mother plant.
Great site and information!!!!
how many plant you have to produce 20/25 fruits a season?it is sounds great!
Hello. I started a pineapple top in march in a glass of water. After a couple of weeks it got roots and I planted it. After a month or so a new shoot started off the side and a few weeks later another started off the opposite side. The top itself didn’t do anything, but it is still green (its lost a couple of leaves only). Now I have 2 shoots (suckers?) that are about 12-14 inches high and doing very well, but the plant is becoming pot bound. My question is when I repot (should I do this now?), should I separate one of the shoots and pot it separately? Also, I’ve never fertilized the plant. Should I start now or wait until spring? Thanks!!
I live in Hawaii and have 4 pineapples (started from tops) bearing fruit. My question is will the plants bear again or should I dispose of them after picking the fruit?
We purchased a well established pineapple plant from a nursery. It seems to be doing well as it has produced a new shoot at the base of the plant. My main concern is the bottom leaves of the plant are browning, mostly at the tips to half way down the leaves. Should these be cut off or just left alone and if they should be cut off, should I cut the whole leave or just the brown? Any help on this would be appreciated. Carrie
I read the very informative comments on how to grow pineapples. I have just harvested 2 very fine pineapples and wonder if it is better to remove all of the new shoots from the mother plant and plant them or to leave one on to get another fruit. Will this fruit (from left on shoot) develop sooner than the ones from the planted shoots? If not, it would seem that planting is the preferred method because I assume that the fruit will be larger. The two that I just harvested were just as large as the grocery store pineapples that they were grown from. Also very sweet. If I remove and plant all of the shoots from the mother plant, should I dig up and discard the mother plant? I live near Key West and plant my pineapples in the garden.