Never knew that I would one day harvest pineapples at my farm. This Sunday I had the surprise of my life when I saw a solitary fruit asking me to be plucked. Which I did and brought it home. On seeing it wifey asked: Hamare farm ka?
I nodded in agreement with a smile. The pineapple was growing unnoticed, uncared for.
I had planted the chopped crown some three years back. I had collected half a dozen crowns from the thelawala having paid him a tenner. He had asked: Kya karoge sab? And I had told him what I had intended to do.
Growing a pineapple is very easy. The only thing you need to is being patient for it takes nearly 1100 days to yield a fruit. Here is what I did?
•Trimmed the adhering flesh, carefully slicing small, horizontal sections from the bottom. You will see root buds that appear as small dots or circles on the flat, cut surface. Remove as little tissue as possible to avoid cutting into young stem tissue.
•Bare the stalk, clean it thoroughly and leave it for the leaf scars to heal and prevent rot.
•Place the crown in a plastic tumbler or bucket and change the water every third day. In three weeks you’ll see a healthy root growth.
•Plant the pineapple in a fast draining potting soil. After about two months, the pineapple should be supporting itself as a new plant. The original leaves of the pineapple will begin to die and turn brown, with new leaves beginning to grow at the center. Over the course of the following year, remove the original leaves as they die. Water the plant once a week.
Pine for an Apple!
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