Grow Your Own Pineapple Plant

Have you ever wondered what to do with those spiky pineapple tops once you cut them off your fruit? With a little luck, they can be rooted and grown into your very own pineapple plant. Unless you have a greenhouse or high-intensity lighting, your pineapple plant will probably never produce any fruit, but they are fun to grow anyway. The spiky foliage and blue-green color is an unusual addition to any houseplant collection.

Buy the freshest looking pineapple you can find. If the leaves are already dry and withered, you probably won't be successful. After cutting the top off of your pineapple, remove any remaining fruit connected to the top. Peel away several layer of leaves from the cut-end of the pineapple top until you have about a quarter inch of “stem” showing. You may already be able to see tiny stubby roots growing off of the stem (they were hidden between the leaves). Allow the cut-end to dry out for a couple days. You then have two options: 1) place the stem in a vase of water until roots form, then plant in soil, or 2) plant directly into soil.  I'm not sold one which way is the best (I've had them die both ways). Be prepared to try this a few times before you get one that survives.

Insecticidal Soap: A Cautionary Tale

I've had mealybug on some of my houseplants for a couple years now. Most of my plants seem to be immune, but a few have it pretty badly. I have a lot of succulents and they seem to get the worst case of mealybug (especially my jades and aloes). 

Aloe with mealybug

Unfortunately, even the "safe" houseplant insecticidal soaps are not safe on succulents. I once lost a gorgeous, enormous jade plant (that I had owned for over a decade) after spraying it with insecticidal soap. I guess I should have done more research before doing the spraying, but I assumed it was safe for all houseplants. Instead, that beautiful jade started dropping all of its leaves, then sections of the stem started to fall off...eventually the whole plant collapsed. The loss of this plant was really upsetting!

From that point on, I've used a different tactic to combat the mealybugs...I just let them be. The infestation hasn't spread to any other plants, and the infested plants seem to do just fine (despite looking a little furry). I put most of my houseplants outside over the summer which seems to knock their numbers down. However, they always comes back when I bring the plants inside for the winter.

Mealybugs on my potted rosemary. I just wash them off and eat it anyway!

Grow Your Own Cacti From Seed

Did you know that you can grow cacti from seed? I've been doing it for several years now. It's a very slow process, but actually very easy and interesting. Seed packets can sometimes be found mixed in with vegetable and flowers seeds at your local seed display (I've found them at Walmart). Pinetree Garden Seeds also offers a cactus seed mix for $1.75.

Tiny cactus seedlings in a 50/50 soil/sand mix.

The cultivation of cacti from seed is very similar to how you would start any other flower or vegetable seed. However, a fast draining potting mix should be used. I use 50% regular potting mix and 50% sand. Choose a pot or container that you're happy with because the cactus seedilngs may be in this container for over a year before they need to be transplanted. I often use a plastic ground-beef tray as my container. Read the seed packet to see if the seeds should be covered with potting mix. After sowing, put the container in a humidity dome under lights until germination. Continue growing the seedlings under artificial light.

Cactus seedlings look very different from the adult plant, which is one reason they are so fun to grow. Seedlings have a pair of cotyledons (tiny leaves) surrounding a button-like lump of tissue. Over time, the seedling will absorb the cotyledons (or they slough off) and the button will enlarge. Eventually the seedling will start to grow spines and resemble a mini-version of the adult plant.

These teeny tiny cacti are actually two years old!

Once the outside weather warms, your tray of cactus seedlings can be put outside to get bright sunlight for most of the summer. Water if necessary. If you live in an area with lots of rainfall, you may want to put your cacti in a protected location so they don't get overwatered and rot. The seedlings will gradually grow larger, but the process is very slow. 

After one whole year, my seedlings are still smaller than a pencil eraser! Once they get to a size where they can be handled easily (i.e. without the use of tweezers and a magnifying glass), they can be potted up into individual pots. Bring the plants inside for the winter and put them in the brightest location in your house. They are unlikely to grow much over the winter, but should maintain themselves until they can be put outside the next summer.

In my experience, survivability in the first year is fairly low. While most of the seeds may germinate, only a handful might make it to transplant size. However, over the years I've accumulated a nice little collection. Cacti are so interesting and easy to care for...it's worth the wait.

3 year-old twins!

3-year old cactus

These 3-year old cacti are huge compared to the others!

Have you ever grown cacti or succulents from seed?

Amaryllis in Bloom

The first of my two holiday-clearance Amaryllis bulbs bloomed recently. It's gorgeous, however, it's not the cultivar it claimed to be on the box. Oh well...

I'll be curious to see what the other bulb looks like in bloom. Maybe I accidentally swapped the bulbs while planting them?

Clearance Amaryllis

I picked up two Amaryllis bulbs while after-Christmas shopping. One bulb is 'Minerva' and the other is 'Appleblossom'. I haven't grown an Amaryllis in probably 10-15 years, so hopefully I'll be successful. If I remember correctly, they initially grow and flower just fine, but keeping them alive afterwards (or getting them to re-flower) can be tricky.

Any suggestions on getting these to re-bloom?

Amaryllis Appleblossom (L) and Minerva (R)

The roots on the Appleblossom bulb are much more plump and healthy looking than the Minerva bulb. It will be interesting to see how they perform.

Christmas Cactus in Bloom

I have a fairly large Christmas cactus in my living room that is currently covered in flowers. This plant used to belong to my grandmother, but it was passed on to me when she could no longer take care of it.  I've had the plant for several years already, but this is the best bloom ever!

Christmas cacti bloom in response to photoperiod (specifically due to shortening photoperiod associated with the transition from summer to winter).  If you want your Christmas cactus to bloom, make sure it is not near an artificial light source. If you put your plant under a lamp that is often turned on at night, the plant will perceive this as a lengthened photoperiod and either delay or prevent flowering.