Who knew you could grow a tropical plant in your home in Europe? The Pineapple plant has taken the Western world by storm in recent years with its delightful presence. It grows from a cute little pineapple into a small fruit-sized plant. What’s better is that it is actually quite easy to grow!
Europe and the UK have many regions where you would assume that tropical plants such as the pineapple plant wouldn’t be able to grow. With this lovely indoor plant, this is no longer the case! We will outline how best to grow, care for, maintain, and re-pot the pineapple plant so you can keep yours happy and healthy.
How To Grow Your Pineapple Plant
In some places, you can buy a pineapple plant already planted, and in others, you might have to plant it yourself. If you are planting it for the first time, you’ll want to get a specific type of compost. The best compost for pineapple plants is a 50/50 mixture of orchid and multi-purpose compost.
Once planted, it’s time to set the conditions to give your plant the best chance to grow. Pineapple plant care is easy in terms of growth. They like warm, bright spots. Pick a place in your kitchen that gets a lot of light throughout the day.
To get more specific, pineapple plants like at least 16°C in a consistent way. A conservatory, window ledge, or countertop would work great. Too much direct sunlight could burn the leaves, but other than that you should be fine. They like medium humidity so you don’t need to put it in a laundry room or anything.
In the summer months, you can bring your pineapple plant outside if there are better conditions. It can withstand some European summer showers, but if the weather is persistently bad you should bring it back inside. The most important thing here is the temperature.
If these conditions are met, you should give your plant the best chance to grow. Water only when the soil looks dry, adding water only to the top of the soil. These plants hate overwatering and come from warm conditions remember!
The plant’s leaves should grow a couple of feet, blooming a little pineapple from the middle. This plant is so cute and radiates warmth so we definitely feel it is worth the effort. The plant is not edible though.
How To Care For Your Pineapple Plant
Caring for a pineapple plant is pretty easy. As previously mentioned, you want to keep it in a similar place year round. Minimal tinkering with conditions, apart from potentially bringing it outdoors for summer is a fantastic idea. This leaves just a few points for year round care for the pineapple plant.
Tropical plants like this pineapple plant love water, but in the right amounts. Try to think of it as mimicking the conditions where they came from. You want the soil to be moderately moist at all times, never soggy. Similarly you don’t want it to be barren and dry. An inch of water won’t hurt it too badly so better to water it if you’re not sure.
You can also add some bromeliad fertilizer to the soil if it looks as if it needs rejuvenation. This can happen once every one or two years. This happens because the soil’s nutrients become fully depleted and will need to be replaced with new ones. We will include more information about re-potting in the next section.
How To Re-pot Your Pineapple Plant
Repotting your pineapple plant is easy. You want to do this if the plant is having trouble growing. If the pineapple flower does not grow one year then this is a sign you need to re-pot! You want to get a well draining pot that is one size up from your current vessel.
Simply remove the plant from the core of the soil and place it into some loose soil in the larger plant. Simply water as usual and allow the plant to re-grow into the new soil. It is best to do this just after the pineapple falls off in the later summer/early autumn.
We hope you’ve learned some information about how to best look after your sweet little plant! We love these pineapple plants for the way they brighten up the most gloomy winters in our homes. We have all the equipment and starter kits on our website for your convenience!