They are edible, but not enjoyable. The seeds of a pineapple bother most people when eating the delicious fruit. Simply throwing them away would be a shame. This is how hobby gardeners create new pineapple plants by sowing the seeds.
How do you grow pineapple plants from seeds?
Pineapple seeds can produce new plants by soaking them in lukewarm water for 24 hours, then planting them in lean cactus soil and allowing them to germinate at 28-30 degrees Celsius and high humidity. Germination takes about 8-12 weeks.
Discovering and harvesting the seeds in pineapples
They have the status of a rarity because the seeds were bred out of most pineapples. Happy are the hobby gardeners who discover some of the 2-3 millimeter small seeds under the brown shell. There is a good chance of harvesting the reddish-brown seeds, especially in large, ripe fruits. Therefore, after peeling a pineapple, look for it to harvest with a spoon or knife.
Pretreatment and sowing
Every pineapple core contains the concentrated potential for a new plant. Mother Nature, however, provides seeds with a hard shell within the pulp so that they do not germinate prematurely. To break this germination inhibition, experienced hobby gardeners soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 hours. The desired temperature can be easily maintained for this period of time in a thermos flask. This is how it continues:
- fill small plastic pots with lean cactus soil, peat-sand mixture or seed soil
- Plant 1 core each to a maximum depth of 2 centimeters and sieve thinly with sand
- moisten with a fine spray of lime-free, lukewarm water
- Set up in a heated indoor greenhouse (€59.00 on Amazon) or cover with foil
At a germination temperature of 28-30 degrees Celsius, the process takes an average of 8-12 weeks. The humidity should not fall below 80 percent. If the delicate cotyledons break out of the seeds, any hood can be removed. Lowering the temperature to 23-25 degrees Celsius is also possible. Once the cultivation container is completely rooted, it is repotted into normal substrate for adult pineapple plants.
Tips & Tricks
The result of sowing pineapple seeds is always a guessing game. It is questionable which attributes of the parent and grandparent plants will prevail in the offspring. You can achieve varietal propagation with the help of the leaf tuft. Simply cut it off, remove the pulp and peel off the bottom 2-3 rows of leaves. When used in a lean substrate, rooting starts quickly.