Gardening

In terms of starting them, it's been hit and miss. This is the 3rd time I've tried and the first time I've succeeded at getting a top to root. I recall I trimmed away more flesh and peeled more leaves off the bottom than I had done before, and I think I was much more patient when it was in water to wait for roots to emerge.

My understanding is they like well draining soil and don't like it too wet. I watered it about once a week with about 6 oz water -- watering the plant itself so the water is primarily trapped in the bottom of the leaves and maybe the soil gets an incidental light sprinkle -- and a bromeliad fertilizer every other week. It was outdoors during the summer but once it dropped into the mid 50s at night I brought it indoors. (ETA I'm in zone 10a or b).

Since this is a giant sample size of 1 I'm definitely not going to claim any definitive must-dos. Just reporting on what I did.

I live in FL where you can take a pineapple top, stick it in the ground, and it will grow. There are dozens around my house just because I get a kick out of finding an occasional tiny pineapple. If you don’t live in zone 10/11 you’ll need to keep it in a pot of quite sandy soil, only leave it outside during your warm months, and it will take 3-4 years to get a fruit. After that though it may make a new cane (pineapples are bromeliads I believe) that can produce regular pineapples. It takes a long time though, they are clearly in no hurry.

You need a lot of sun and warmth. They are 10-11hardiness zone. Frost will kill them instantly. Too much moisture is not good either, moderate rainfall