Surrey Pineapples (My Pineapple plants)

[Back to: how the pineapple growing started]

2008: Pineapple Surgery (demolition)

I decided that the time had come to set about this six year old sprawling pineapple plant. As of January 2008, there were three slips coming up and the remainders of the old stumps where fruits had been, plus lots of dead leaves hanging down. Added to this was the minor inconvenience of having to battle my way past everytime I wanted access to the cupboard behind, and the small matter of a pending visit by four guests later in the month, requiring floor space ... space for humans! Goodness, whatever next... so, the entire assembly was heaved outdoors on a pleasant enough January afternoon, ready for surgery.

Equipment required: secateurs, gloves and a saw.

20080106

The mother plant awaits it fate. It can be seen that something had to be done! Commercially, plants are replanted long before this stage. Before

I broke off the slips by hand. They were quite tough. Here is the scene after the various parts had been separated. After breaking up.

Another view, from above. The large portion at the bottom was pretty hefty. Not many people have the strange experience of tossing a large pineapple plant onto their compost! Disassembled parts

After throwing away the pieces I had to take a saw in order to remove the main trunk (original part of the plant). The small slip I will repot, and the one slip left I will leave to see how it gets on. After.

A closeup of the trunk in cross section shows a tough fibrous core sheathed by old leaf bases. Very interesting to see! It smells of, er, not much really. Not of pineapple anyway. Trunk cross-section

20080106

After the surgery, it was back indoors to wait for spring, and thank goodness - a bit more floor space.

	20080106
The mother plant awaits it fate. It can be seen that something had to be done! Commercially, plants are replanted long before this stage.
I broke off the slips by hand. They were quite tough. Here is the scene after the various parts had been separated.
Another view, from above. The large portion at the bottom was pretty hefty. Not many people have the strange experience of tossing a large pineapple plant onto their compost!
After throwing away the pieces I had to take a saw in order to remove the main trunk (original part of the plant). The small slip I will repot, and the one slip left I will leave to see how it gets on.
A closeup of the trunk in cross section shows a tough fibrous core sheathed by old leaf bases. Very interesting to see! It smells of, er, not much really. Not of pineapple anyway.
	20080106