Pineapple: the Second Coming, Pt. II
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2007: Late Summer
As anyone who lives in the UK will know, most of Summer 2007 has been a washout, literally. The Jet Stream seems to have attracted most
of the blame, with a whole string of wet depressions being sent over the grey English skies, one after another without any respite.
June was signed off as the wettest in memory, and one of the wettest ever recorded. July has been worse.
News stories have shown images of rivers twenty feet above normal,
acres of water resembling the Amazon, narrow boats beached on fields and thousands of flooded homes. Surrey has been affected somewhat less, but still so wet that
the garden has not needed watering once since the first week of June (now end-July). I persisted with the summer plan and the
pineapple has remained outside. How did it get on? You can see here!
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| No photos for over a month! Just shows how inclement the weather has been. It (the pineapple) has survived, though the pot is not in its tray as water was simply sitting there constantly. The leaf joints against the stem have held water continually, for over a month, and I hope they won't rot. The fruit does seem to have grown a bit, but it really hasn't been warm enough. As last time, its weight is causing it to list so I've propped it up. Here's hoping for a nice August... |  |
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| 20070728 | |
| One interesting development is the appearance of a small bud below the fruit on the same stem. Maybe another ratoon shoot, I don't know. The weather seems to have slowed all growth right down, but the plant looks alright generally. My Queen pineapple plant, also outside but no fruit, isn't looking as happy. Not pictured! |  |
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| 20070809 | |
 | August already! And some nice sunny weather, although not exceptionally warm. The pineapple plant has finally made it out to the open patio area away from the house. |
 | Looking good. The fruit has to be supported at all times due to its weight. It is looking nice and lustrous but is very dark coloured. I suspect that it won't ripen until it comes indoors to the warmth, but I'm hoping that it will grow a bit more. |
 | The fruit is approximately 10cm long and 8cm in diameter. |
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| 20071020 | |
 | Ripening at last! The yellow colour is just coming at the top end. Now inside, the fruit has taken ages to grow this year, maybe due to the poor summer. |
 | Overall view. I've had to support the pineapple as it is far too heavy to support itself. |
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| 20071025 | |
| Coming along nicely... |  |
| 20071025 |
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| A week later, the orangey yellow colour is taken on all over. |  |
| The plant as whole is rather a rambling thing now, with all manner of offshoots. I'm not sure what to do with it! Perhaps cutting it up and repotting the shoots would be the way forward. |  |
| Close up view of one of the other runt shoots growing. |  |
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| 20071109 | |
 | As November marches on the weather is turning colder, so a date palm is sharing the floor space indoors. Here is a picture taken from between the palm leaves. It looks exotic when the sunshine comes through the window - and now and then, there is a waft of sweet smelling pineapple ... |
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