There’s one piece of Americana that I do not like. Lawns. Suburban grass lawns. Keeping a good looking lawn is difficult and expensive. The amount of watering and cutting and fertilizing is mind boggling, considering that you are simply growing grass. Lawns do have a nice, neat appearance, but in my opinion they are way too sterile.
Of course, I am not alone in lawn-hating. Various hippies are also unhappy with vast water-hogging expenses of grass they can’t smoke. They propose various solutions, such as replacing grass with clover, wild flowers, etc. I actually very like one solution I’ve seen somewhere (can’t find the link) – they’ve replaced the lawn with a vegetable garden. It’s not as neat and sterile, but still green most of the year. And you get your own organic berries and vegetables.
Oh, and I got to mention this, my wife always liked this black grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus, I think) that grown across from the waterlily pond in Brooklyn Botanical. Now, that would make one nice gothy lawn.
In any case, my McMansion-owning friends can have their humongous lawns and tractor lawnmowers. Living in an apartment, all I can operate with is a windowsill.
Speaking about windowsills. I grew up in a very old apartment in Odessa, Ukraine. The windowsills there were huge – you could sleep on those things. Some of the newer houses in America don’t even have windowsills – they have picture frame moulding around them. The older, Art Deco era apartment where I live now has decently sized windowsills. They are big enough for a couple of cats to sleep on.
In any case, there’s a lot of super cool stuff you can grow on your windowsill. I, for one have a couple of real pineapple plants.
For the longest time I thought that pineapples grew on palm trees, like bananas and coconuts. Well, I just found out that bananas also don’t grow on palm trees and are technically herbs. Live and learn.
Anyway, pineapples grow low on the ground, kind of like corn. The first pineapple plant that I grew on my windowsill I got from Brooklyn Botanical Garden gift shop. It already had the small fruit and cost me about $30 bucks. That was years ago. It has proven to be amazingly resilient – I generally have a brown thumb, and frequently forgot to water it. It survived a cold New York winter, and finally I ended up eating the slightly bigger pineapple. It was small, but very pineapply.
The plant that you see in the picture is one of the two that I picked up from Ikea in Elizabeth, NJ. They set me back only 20 bucks, together. Thank you, Ingvar.
I bet there are other cool plants that I could grow. Various dwarf citrus plants – lemons, oranges, kumquats, etc. Coffee tree. Maybe even a dwarf banana. The trick, of course if finding plants that already have fruit on them (if you know a good supplier, please let me know) – growing something from a seed is a huge pain in the ass.
it’s fun growing plants from fruit seeds that you usually swallow or spit out : rambutan (like hairy lychee) makes a handsome house-plant till it gets too big. Passionfruit/grenadila -glossy leafed climber, goji -can be grown from seeds out of dried goji berries – really wants to be outdoors, but you can bring it on at a window then give it to a friend. Figs, pomegranates, grapefruit, satsumas…. and you probably have access to far more exotic fruit in NY than we ever heard of in Scotland.
you might like to try growing some other exotic plants from seeds you’d normally discard or eat:
pomegranate, citrus fruit, passionfruit/grenadilla (nice glossy climber), goji (the tiny seeds in dried berries are ok – I got mine from a trail mix) lychee, rambutan, fig…
and there must be all sorts of exotic fruit in NY that we never heard of in Scotland.
Once again, I’m another person who found this site by google-ing pineapple plants, in search of discovering how they grow.
I was shocked to find out that you cut the top off and plant it- how STRANGE! But now I want one…. thanks to someone who replied to your page, I am now about to look up that miniature plant nursery and see what I can find :)
Did you know that now, in 2009, you cannot find a Hawaiian Pineapple on the east coast? Only recently I found a Hawaiian Pineapple at Foragers Market in Brooklyn, New York. It is a pineapple from Hawaii. They taste great. Much better tasting than any other Pineapple I had away from Hawaii. Of course, the pineapples on the islands of hawaii usually taste the best, and Maui Pineapple is my favorite.
Aloha,
Aquaman
love your blog been returning for days (fyi:starbucks) who knew? (not i ) live & learn & pleased you are sharing- best of luck!
jeanne
I’m another looking to grow the top. Found this link:
http://www.gardening-guides.com/novelties/pineapple.php
i was drinkingg juice late at night with my mum
and i suddenly ask how do pineapple grow?
mum then said search the internet
i said NOW?
she said yes
so i did
not much information till i searched on image and found this web page!
i told my mum it said technically herbs
mum said she doesnt know about that and is shockeed!
i learnt something new!!
Funny – reading through your comments, you must get a lot of hits from people looking for how a pineapple grows. Which is how I ended up on your page. Same story as a lot of people. Pineapple in the house. Discussion on how it grows. Off to teh intarwebs. Google is my friend. Your picture made me laugh out loud though – that’s awesome. I didn’t expect such a small plant to have a relatively large fruit on it.
Me thinks I will be rooting/planting the top of my small pineapple.
Pingback: Buy Facebook Fans
Our two are doing well. Im just curious how long the pretty fruit stays on.
Pingback: mission fitness
Pingback: best supplements for muscle gain
Pingback: auto body new jersey
Pingback: best seo blog
Pingback: Flying Cars
Pingback: link
Pingback: Escort girl Paris
Pingback: Phil Cannella
Pingback: stop smoking
Pingback: Lowcost Cruises Deals
Pingback: paranormal activities
Pingback: muay thai Phuket
Pingback: florida unemployment benefits
Pingback: Dallas Pet Photographer
Pingback: Best Logos
Pingback: Instant Movie Downloads
Pingback: Swedish Meatballs
Pingback: real work weight loss program
Pingback: dentists solihull
Pingback: Herbal Smoke
Pingback: Spice Herbal Incense
Pingback: uzaktan egitim
Pingback: Search an inmate
Pingback: escorts in orange county ca
Pingback: best over the counter sleep aid
Pingback: psoriasis treatment
Pingback: best shampoo
Pingback: Sullair Air Compressor
Pingback: Shakti
Pingback: European casino hotels
Pingback: work at home scams
Pingback: read
Pingback: wedding rings
Pingback: document scanner
Pingback: MMA in New York
Pingback: Compare car hire and save
Pingback: old gold jewelry
Pingback: travel bug
Pingback: hcg diet recipes
Pingback: investment property
Pingback: Organo Gold
Pingback: Project Payday
Pingback: hypnosis weight loss
Pingback: tetris
Pingback: DSW coupons
Pingback: croscill comforter sets
Pingback: Style Wohndesign
Pingback: hair salon mobile al
Pingback: Jennifer Ellison
Pingback: Low Cost Payday Loans
Pingback: Tatouage
Pingback: T-Bonds
Pingback: marijuana addiction
Pingback: Buy Electronic Cigarette In
Pingback: money online
Pingback: click here to get haier air conditioner
Pingback: bedroom furniture
Pingback: Scleritis
Pingback: How to Transfer Music from iPhone to Computer
Pingback: fire pit screens
Pingback: play houses
Pingback: Blog porno
Pingback: Scott Tucker Racing
Pingback: POF Secrets
Pingback: Insurance news
Pingback: Appraisal Management Companies
Pingback: reo companies
Pingback: lipo 6 side effects
Pingback: smokeless cigarettes retailers
Pingback: steven cymbrowitz
Pingback: best payday loan
Pingback: compare prices
Pingback: SWTOR Quest Guide
Pingback: Best wheels for sliding
Pingback: video sales letter
Pingback: john vespucci
Pingback: personal concierge melbourne
Wish ya’s all well! We are trying the…….. cut the top off of the pineapple and let it soak in water and see if it will grow roots??? then plant in soil. Love to have a little plant with baby fruit on it. So sweet and cute! Will check back. Thanks
HEre I am standing in my Toronto kitchen, at age 55, with my daughter , age 18 and her friend, age 17 and we are staring at a ripe pineapple bought at our local store . . .oh yes, it’s just past midnight when it hits us that WE HAVE NO IDEA how a pineapple grows. SO, prior to hitting the web, we each give it ouyr best shot. We range from – it grows on a stalk (me, and finally proud) and it grows form a tree and hangs down from the upward pointing leaves (the 17 year old) and then the 18 year old who goes with the multiple fruits on one tree, but each stiocking up from its own stalk.
And finally – your clarifying pictures! Thanks from Toronto
You could have saved yourself 70 bucks and cut the top off a pineapple, putting it in a rooting substance and planting it into a container when the roots began to sprout. Thats what I did and my pineapple though it hasn’t borne any fruit yet is about 3 feet high and doing very well in my back garden in Dublin, Ireland. I have never brought it in for the winter as I didn’t realise you had to and the container it’s planted in is too big. I have only just tried to self-pollenate it but, I won’t have any results for months yet. But, I wish you the best of luck and hope you continue to get more fruit
You don’t even need to put it in rooting substance, just cut the fleshy part off until you reach the root buds, they look like dots, and shove it an inch or 2 into some potting soil. I have a plant that is growing using this method it is 3 or 4 months old.
Hi we reside in Georgia and saw your pineapple while searching the web out of curiousity to find out how long a pinapple takes to grow. We were surprised to find out 2 years. I bought a pineapple and my husband peeled it and planted the top about three months ago, so we were getting ready to see the fruit pop up but now to our suprise we have a long way to go. Right now i its outside(summer) and looking very healthy. Guess I’ll let you know the outcome.
I was also looking for a picture of pineapple, a pineapple plant to be precise, on Google and found this web page. I have a pineapple sitting on my table and I was thinking of planting the top after having eaten the bottom. Of course, I can never plant it outside because the Finnish winter would simply kill it, I think.
Good luck with plants
I was looking for a picture of pineapples in the web and your pineapple in the pot had caught my attention. I know an online nursery that sells those miniature trees in a pot, i’ll leave you the link here just have a look maybe they can help you…. Good luck….!
http://www.livinggifts.net/miniature_trees.html
I bought a pineapple, cut off the top, peeled off the small leaves and found brown roots inside. I’m soaking it in water and hoping to rejuvinate them. One of them is getting lighter already.
Has anybody had NEGATIVE experience with rooting the plant in water? I worry that it’s going to get root rot.
I can’t wait till it starts to grow bigger.
This is a great post, Michael. We always love to see people growing pineapple plants in their homes. We referenced you and your photo on our recent post on how to grow a pineapple on our blog: http://www.PineappleNews.com. (www.pineapplenews.com/2008/10/15/how-to-grow-a-pineapple-at-home/)
Thanks and aloha!
cccccooooooollllll