"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday, 12 August 2017

Propagating tropical fruit


At the end of last summer I was craving, and so purchased, a couple of pineapples.

 I had also read that one can propagate new plants from the tops, so naturally, when the pineapples were eaten I had to try and see if it would work.

 To prepare the pineapple top you carefully remove about 2.5cms (an inch) of the leaves from the bottom of the pineapple stalk until you see some root buds, and then pop them into water.
Changing the water every 5 - 6 days, it only took about 6 - 8 weeks on my kitichen windowsill  for those roots to grow to a decent length. 
It looks promising - new leaves appearing whilst the pineapple
 head is producing roots in the water
But, eventually they were long enough to transfer from their watery life into their permanent home in the garden.  It is recommended that they get potted up in soil first, but I went ahead and shoved them in the garden soil.
I reckon those roots are long enough
Being winter, ad frost tender, they were protected with a light covering of mulch to ensure that the frost did minimal damage.  When the bushes have (hopefully) grown too big for a mulch cover, they will get a hessian frost cover in winter.
New leaves appearing in the centre of the crown
But, I'm happy to report that all three pineapple plants are showing signs of new growth, so hopefully, before too long we may be able to harvest some home grown pineapples 😁  It will be good to be pineapple self-sufficient to any degree - one less thing to spend hard earned money on... 😉
Posted by Dani at 16:02:00
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4 comments:

  1. Mum12 August 2017 at 19:29

    Hope your wait for pineapple fruits isn't too long.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dani12 August 2017 at 19:55

      Mum - could be a couple of years, but I'm patient... (I think) 😂

      Delete
  2. Unknown14 August 2017 at 10:33

    Yep we have done the same, so far no fruit yet but who knows, also doing it with celery,onions, carrots and Chinese cabbage!

    The celery i have put into my flow bin aquaponics system and it is doing great!

    We also planted about 20 avo trees grown from pits from our produceing tree, also a wait and see situation!

    Good luck

    Angus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dani14 August 2017 at 10:42

      Angus - Welcome and thank you for taking the time to lweave a comment. Whereabouts are you?

      Well done on your achievements.

      Yes, we have also planted avo trees grown from pits (5 years ago) and are roughly 2 years away from hopefully seeing some fruit. Our lemon trees grown from pips are now bearing - albeit not as many as I hoped for, but I'm sure that will increase.

      Onions - I am constantly growing new onions from the root ends of old onions.

      I am growing strawberries in my aquaponic pipe (http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.co.za/2017/06/hydroponic-update.html) and they seem to be doing well.

      Trying wherever I can to supplement our veggie needs without having to spend filthy lucre on commercially grown, chemical laden produce ;)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment - it makes my day and removes the "loneliness' of sitting at my screen blogging supposedly to myself ;) I try and reply as quickly as possible so please forgive me if sometimes my response is delayed.

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