Remember how sweet pineapple tastes in Hawaii? Southern California gardeners can enjoy that taste by growing crops in containers to harvest fruit when it is perfectly ripe.
That's what Paul Quong of Villa Park, California, has been doing the last 15 years. The process calls for patience - plants can take up to 24 months to produce ripe fruit - but is otherwise easy, he says. Here's his method.
Pots of pineapple plants line Quong's patio year-round. The fruits take longer to ripen in Southern California than they would in Hawaii, but winter chill does not damage the plants. In colder areas, move plants indoors next to a sunny window before frost, or under grow lights.
1. Buy a supermarket pineapple with healthy green leaves. Cut off the crown (A), leaving several inches of fruit (B). Soak crown in water for a day or two to absorb moisture (C).
2. Fill a 1-gallon plastic pot about three-quarters full with lava rock (D). Add 2 to 3 inches of redwood compost (E). Set the crown on top (F). To make it easier to gauge soil moisture, cover half the crown with additional compost. Place plant in sunny, warm location.
3. Water frequently, especially during the summer. When pineapple leaves start to grow, begin fertilizing. Quong uses a dry, citrus-type fertilizer three to four times a year, in addition to a liquid fertilizer once a month.
4. Transplant pineapple to a 5-gallon pot when it outgrows its original container, then to a 15-gallon size.
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