Yesterday: High: 91, Low:76, trace rain – but none here
So I have 2 pineapple plants in one of my flower beds. Both of them planted last summer from tops cut off from pineapples bought at the grocery store. I decided to give them a try out in the garden after my mom showed me her pineapple. The one that just randomly showed up in a compost heap that wasn’t buried deep enough. 
She said that she hadn’t really done anything to help it along, so I decided to give it a try. I love low maintenance plants.
Neither has fruited yet. According to some quick research, I probably have 2 more years before they fruit. I do water them every time I water, but they are outdoors in the ground. My mom thought that they needed a lot of water because hers put on a lot of new growth after being soaked, but apparently they can be quite ignored for quite a long time, at least as far as watering goes. They do like it humid, though. Muggy Houston must seem just perfect for them!
As far as planting, I just stuck them in the ground, watered and hoped. It worked fine, although for one it seemed like it didn’t. Nothing changed about the one in the picture for a year from the time I jammed it in the ground. I was just about ready to pull it out as a lost cause, when I saw a sprout growing from the side of the original top earlier this summer. I’m glad that I left it in the ground. The green of the leaves kept me convinced it was still alive. I know a dead plant when I see one.
Links for growing your own pineapple:
The Pineapple Page
Growing Pineapples in Containers
Pineapple Tops at the GardenWeb Forums
Pictures from other people’s gardens
