With pampering, it's possible to grow pineapple in Tallahassee

While pineapple plants (Ananas comosus, in the Bromeliaceae family) are not native to Florida or even North America, with a bit of pampering, you can grow them in Tallahassee in either pots that can be protected in the winter or in a greenhouse.

Although the plant will tolerate full sun to fairly dark conditions inside, pineapple is most attractive as an ornamental if given some protection from full sun.

Ryan Burk, a financial adviser in real life and local actor and pineapple grower in his spare time, has perfected the art of growing pineapples in Tallahassee.

At any given time, he has 25 to 30 plants growing in pots that he cares for like his children. He laughs that his extremely tolerant wife, Kelley, lets him bring all those plants in the house during the winter to protect them from the cold. I really think it is a ploy to talk her into letting him get a heated greenhouse.

I asked Ryan what possessed him to start growing pineapples and he said that when he was a boy, he and his mother tried to grow one unsuccessfully. I believe he said it was dead within two weeks after planting. When he was older, he wanted to try again. To increase his odds, he started with 10 plants and instead of removing the pineapple tops and planting them directly in soil, he put the tops in water until he saw roots growing. Then he planted them in soil.

Growing up in Graceville, Florida, Ryan was in Future Farmers of America (FFA) for three years in high school and president of FFA his senior year. While he did not go on to become a farmer, he said he really enjoyed learning about the business side of farming and learning about different types of soil and their impact on plant growth. He has put that knowledge to good use helping farmers with financial advice in Northwest Florida and in growing his beloved pineapples.

Ryan says that it takes about three years from the start for the plants to produce fruit. He states that the pineapple fruiting is one of the prettiest things you will see, and it looks like an exotic colorful flower in the beginning and then turns into a green fruit before ripening to yellow.

From the time the fruit first appears, to within a month, you will have a small pineapple. But after that, it takes about seven months before you can harvest the pineapple. Ryan harvests the pineapple once it starts to turn yellow and lets it sit on the kitchen counter until the entire pineapple is yellow. Before he cuts and eats it, he will remove its crown and start the process all over again.

Ryan believes that the pineapples he grows are even sweeter than the ones you can purchase in the grocery store.

Here are his directions for starting your very own pineapple plant: To start a pineapple plant from an existing pineapple, you need to remove the crown (leafy top of a mature fruit). If the plant is fully ripened, you can twist off the top easily or cut it with a knife.

Then peel up the bottom of the crown about an inch and place the crown in a full glass of water so that the water covers the newly exposed bottom of the pineapple crown. Place the glass in a sunny window to allow the root system to begin growing into the water.

Once you see visible roots you will want to plant the pineapple start in a one-gallon pot with soil that is a mixture of a good potting soil and compost. This will provide all the fertilizer that it will need. The pot needs to have drain holes to allow for good drainage. You will need to keep it well watered for the first year. Ryan found that lots of water encouraged rapid growth. He recommends repotting the pineapple plant into the next larger size pot after each time it grows a foot taller.

Ryan protects the plants in the winter by bringing them into the house. He has learned that pineapples do not like temperatures below 64 degrees. So as soon as the weather team indicates the temperatures will drop to 64 degrees or cooler, he brings them inside. Once the temperature rises back up to 65 degrees or above, back outside they go.

In addition to starting plants from the top of a pineapple fruit, Ryan has learned that after the plants have produced pineapples, the old plant will send up a new plant from its base, referred to as suckers. Once the new plant(s) grows to about seven to eight inches he removes the new plant(s) out of the old plant and plants it separately.

Regardless of whether you remove the new plant or not, the old plant will die. However, by removing the new plants it will grow better individually as the two plants will not have to compete for sunlight and water.

I asked Ryan if he had any additional advice or lessons learned on growing pineapples. He said that pineapple plants make for nice and interesting house plants when they are small. However, as they grow bigger, they are cumbersome and heavy.

The bigger the plant the bigger the pineapple you get. They can grow three feet high and five feet wide and they are prickly. If you want to see fruit from a pineapple plant you have to have patience, patience, and more patience.

Brenda Buchan is a Master Gardener volunteer with UF/IFAS Extension Leon County. For gardening questions, email the extension office at AskAMasterGardener@ifas.ufl.edu.