pineapple

Hi All,
over the last couple of years I have planted the tops of any pineapples we have eaten in my herb garden, much to my delight this year I have my first fruit growing but I don't know when it is ready to be picked. It has been growing for almost 3 months, the fruit is about 14cm in height at the moment and is a dark blue grey in colour. Should I wait for it to turn yellow, I don't think it's ready yet but am scared of leaving it too long.

g'day tropical3,

wait until it is fully ripe yellow all over, it will taste as sweet as by then.

i have grown tops over the years but the fruits after waiting anything up to 3 years generally are only about 4 or 5"s long, but very sweet. don't know what the farmers do to get the same tops to produce in 18 months and get big fruit?

len

Thanks Gardenlen,
I will bide my time, it has taken 3 years for this top to fruit, I didn't know farmers get them to fruit in 18 months, thanks for your advise.

yeh they get the tops back from the juice factory and leave them stacked up out in the full sun for about a month 'till the tops look quiet dry and yellow except for the couple leaves right in the middle, that is supposed to make the plant panic and fruit quicker.

they don't do much if any irrigating after the tops have taken root, and they grow them in very gravely red type soils, never seen them use nutrients.

len