Pineapple update

This is the way I found it this morning, the air around the plant had a subtle pineapple smell so the time was now. This plant has been around for 4 years so today was quite exciting.

Ordinarily, you can get a pineapple once per plant and only after the second year. I kinda abused this bad boy so it didn't flower until spring on year 4. One new large pot and good soil later, and we get...

THIS! Now, I've made a commitment to some users and that happens to be the whole point of this post so I'll be tagging them in the comments, but as for the fruit, this is what a pineapple is before it becomes a fruit. The husks of the flower petals are all that's left in this picture but they're small and magenta or purple in color. Quite a nice pop to a dark green and glossy bromeliad that is the plant spawning the fruit up top.

This was the state of it a few days ago. The yellow had emerged on the fruit and the time was VERY close. From the teeny tiny flower bud pod emerging from the stem on top to harvest was about 5-6 months.

Today's the DAAAAY. Up this close, the air around the plant reeked of pineapple. It's really a shame they don't last longer because the fragrance alone would have one of these in my living space for the rest of my life.

The deed is done. One quick and gentle snip later, we have the yellow grenade here.

It's frikkin adorable and the thought of what I was about to do was a bittersweet sensation. Four years for one fruit the size of a soda can, but the plant itself was always a centerpiece.

Be careful with the top, it's the next project.

THE SMELL. Holy crap, this was the most fragrant fruit I have ever experienced. Kept as much of the fruit on as possible, but I wasn't about to chew on the skin.

Round two, here we go again!

Unfortunately, bromeliads being fruiting monocots are only good for one flowering and fruiting on a singular occasion (bananas are the same way; only one bunch per "tree"). Once the flowers emerge, it's essentially the 'death' of the plant. It will never grow new leaves, it won't grow the existing plant further, the only hope for continuing its lineage is by sprouting a new plant from the roots or cutting the top off and rooting that instead which is what I've done here. A whole new plant genetically identical to the original. The host will still be green for a while, it may even shoot off a new plant, but its days are now numbered and it likely won't last until winter. And that, ladies and gentlemen and everything inbetween, is the life of my pineapple.