How to Grow a Pineapple from a Top Cutting

I've tried to "start" pineapple tops several different ways over the years, as indicated by so called experts on YouTube and never had any success. But, like Einstein, I never gave up. I decided to try it "MY WAY" and have been successful with 8 plants so far and I just started 10 more plants today.

Here's my "step by step" process. I ended up with 100% success rate with this process and if you follow it, you should have the same success, so give it a try! 

Here goes:

Cut the top off of the pineapple. Make sure you have NO FRUIT left on the cut end. If you leave fruit, you will likely end up with molds and then ROT!

Peel back at least 1-2 inches of the bottom leaves carefully to expose the tiny roots growing under these leaves. These are adventitious root and grow tightly under the base of the leaves.

Soak the cut end in lukewarm water for 2 hours so that the top can suck up a little water into the leaves.

Pull the tops out of the water and set them on their sides to dry out for at least three days. The cut end of the top will get dried out looking, and the rest of the top may look like it is dying, but don’t worry.

Plant in a container in good potting soil just up to the bottom of the leaves. You only need to plant it deep enough so that those roots that you exposed earlier are now covered with soil and the top stands up on its own and is stable.

Keep evenly moist prior to and as you start to see new leaf growth. I keep my pots in a “morning sun” area so that the new plants are not exposed yet to our hard Texas sun. Since the pineapple plant is a member of the Bromeliaceae genus, you can water into the center of the plant. There may be a little “cup” forming that may hold water, or at least direct rain or overhead watering to the base of the plant.

Once you have at least 3-5 new leaves, depending on what season you are currently in, you can plant up into a bigger container, or in its permanent place in the garden. However, planting and tending will be found in an upcoming blog article. Good Luck with your new plant starts.

Top plant in above photo is 4 months old. Plant on bottom was just planted.