Good Afternoon Fan Friends!

This will be POST # 1 of the ‘Brittany tries to grow fruit plants at home’ series. Today I’m going to attempt to germinate pineapple seeds that are viable enough to pot in soil. Pineapples are probably the most slow growing plant but also probably one of the most hardiest to care for. They don’t always fruit right away and can take up to 5 years before they start barring anything truly edible. They are a rather tropical and good looking plant to have around. Since I am not exactly trying to grow a pineapple per say, I don’t mind waiting and in the event that one did so happened to bloom I’d happily enjoy the ‘fruits of my labor’-pun intended.

Giving just a little bit of background on myself as a gardener, I do not have a green thumb. In fact, everything I touch dies. A friend of mine raises aloe plants as well as a variety of other plants. When Tom and I helped she and her husband move, she took it upon herself to gift me this little baby aloe plant. I am a serial plant killer, it’s not that I try to kill them but I can follow care directions by the book and still have it dead as a door nail within a week of its arrival to my window sill. Despite my rather desperate pleas to not take it, my adamant testimony that it would probably die in my care, my friend did not budge on her stance of gifting me with the baby aloe plant. She told me, quite plainly, that not even I can kill the hearty aloe plant. I’d literally have to overwater it to kill it. A plant I didn’t have to remember to water daily? Sign me up! I figured I’d give it a go and flash forward to today, I can proudly say I have actually kept that plant alive for three years. Not bad for the girl that kills plants faster than directions say they will flourish in!

Granted, while my aloe plant is still a little small, (I only recently re-potted it), it is fairly easy to care for. I only have to remember to water it once, maybe twice, a month in the summer and as long as I am making sure it is in a place where it’s getting plenty of sunlight it pretty much thrives all year long-without much assistance from me. Unfortunately for me, the fact that I have actually kept this plant alive for as long as I did gave me confidence to try something a little more complicated-this could be a good thing or bad thing.

Before we delve into the how let’s talk about the what pineapples really are besides a delicious snack. Pineapples are a tropical herbaceous perennial belonging to the bromeliad family. Basically they can grow to about an inch shorter than me at 5’1 putting them at approximately 5 feet in height and 3-4 feet in spread. Believe it or not pineapples were once a delicacy afforded only to the very wealthy in Europe during the 1700s.

What I found most fascinating to learn about these plants is how growing them is very simple. They have extremely tough leaves which lose little water through evaporation. They also have small root systems ( much like other bromeliads), and are not fussy about the quality or quantity of their soil. Anyone who really knows me knows that I despise a needy and picky plant. It absolutely broke all preconceived notion’s that I had regarding my ability to successfully grow one. 

Since they’re not picky and have small roots, they tend to make excellent container grown plants, this is especially awesome for those of us (like me) whose climate is less than tropical. If you do live in a warmer region, kudos to you because growing pineapple plants in the garden is a match made in heaven that you should at least try once.

After researching just how easy they were and how many people were able to keep these bromeliads in various climates I had to wonder: Were pineapples the hip new houseplants for amateur gardeners without green thumbs?

I got my seeds from a store bought pre-sliced pineapple, so the way I see it as whether or not they grow might not have anything to do with how well I follow directions. The seeds just might not be viable, in which case, I’ll try the other more popular method of growing a pineapple from cutting off the crown section and potting it in soil.

Please note that I will be doing an update once a month on how my seeds are doing. I have no guarantee that this will work I am simply trying something a little unorthodox. Typically, much like the lima beans I would grow when I was in elementary school, this could be done by taking a wet paper towel and placing the seeds inside a zip lock airtight bag. However the idea of waiting three months with a moist paper towel that can easily mold inside a bag, inside my house, didn’t really appeal to me. So I did what any ordinary girl in the 21st-century would do, I went on YouTube. 

I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Diane Mumm Garden Videos. In the video ‘How to Plant Pineapple Seeds-grow pineapple from seed’, Diane tries three popular methods for germination. The first batch of seeds she simply planted in soil, the second she placed the seeds in a jar and the third batch she did via the wet paper towel route. Diane did regular updates and it turns out her most successful batch was the ones grown or rather germinated in a mason jar. Without getting into too much detail, you can watch the video yourself here:WATCH Diane’s video HERE!

The method I am going to write about today showed that more productive process. Since Diane found that after trying all three methods the mason jar method worked the best, I figured it would cost me nothing to give it a whirl. It’s important to note, that I may not have anything to plant until September. As I may have previously mentioned, pineapple plants take forever to germinate (as well as fruit) so if patience isn’t your forte, you might want to sit this one out. 

Before we begin, please note my new DISCLAIMER page, by accessing this website you are AGREEING to the terms listed. The step-by-step method I am providing is not guaranteed to work and you should therefore always do your own independent research before trying it yourself at home. Also please note: I am not a gardener but there are plenty of talented and fabulous Youtubers who are excellent gardeners that can answer any questions that you have. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what you’ll need:

1. A Mason Jar

2. Pineapple Seeds

3. Water

4. Plastic wrap

Most people suggest growing a pineapple from the crown, however this seed method is also, while time consuming, affective from what I’ve seen in Diane’s videos. First thing that I did was I pulled the seeds out of the fruit. When I cut up my pineapple, I took notice of the little (blackish brown in color) dots imbedded in the fruit. These are the seeds so I plucked them out and set them aside.

Once I finished enjoying my snack, I rinsed off the seeds so that they were no longer sticky.  I found this to be a very important step because I did not want to attract fruit flies or gnats by allowing them to smell the sweetness of my pineapple seeds. 

Next, I set aside a clean mason jar. It can be any size as long as it allows ample room for your seeds to germinate. The mason jar I used was medium sized.

Once I had my seeds and mason jar it was time to begin the next step. I placed just a little bit of water at the bottom of the mason jar. I was careful not to use too much as I did not want my seeds swimming or floating around in too much water. Next, I dropped my seeds in, covered the top with plastic wrap, and tilted the jar on its side, gently rolling it. Being careful not to tilt it too much, I did not want any water escaping. I made sure to tilt it until I felt the seeds were spread out, the purpose of this is to avoid having seeds germinate too closely together.

Finally, I placed my jar in a place where it will get plenty of sunlight. I recommend doing this in the summer months because pineapple plants are tropical fruits and therefore thrive best in the summer. During the winter months it is advised to keep them in a sunlit area in a room where the temperature does not drop below 50°. 

Within three months, I should begin to see my seeds begin to sprout. When this happens, I can transfer my seeds to soil. I will be sure to document the next step, providing that mine actually achieve germination. As with anything else, gardening takes practice. It’s trial and error type experience. While I do not have the answer yet to the question I posed earlier in this post, I am convinced I will have one within the next year. I’ll either be successfully enjoying a beautiful indoor pineapple plant or writing about what a failure these processes were for me- there’s no in between when it comes to plants.

As I mentioned before, I do not have the best of luck with plants so therefore I tend to grow ordinary, non fussy, low maintenance plants that are not extremely complicated and complex. While the chances of me actually killing the seeds before they can germinate are also very high, my aloe plant has given me the confidence in wanting to try to grow different fruit plants just too see just how easy it is to do at home. Some of the plants I talk about in this series may die and some of them may thrive. The point of this series will be to show you, the reader, what you can and can’t grow if you have a brown thumb like I do.

Right now, the weather in my part of the globe is very warm and humid so I will be sure to document whether or not I feel this was the best way for someone with little to no gardening experience to grow a pineapple plant. As mentioned, I will also be trying the other method of growing a pineapple from the crown. During this time and at the end of the summer I will be able to, based off of my own experiences, tell you which method I feel works best. As mentioned in my disclaimer it is important before trying this at home that you do your own research what works for me might not work for you and that is OK. Finding your own method is key to finding success with your plants.

Have you ever tried growing fruit plants at home? Leave a comment below and join the conversation! I love to hear from each and every one of you.