Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-512
Pineapple
Ananas comosus
Pineapple is a compact rosette plant, not a tree, that grows three to four feet across and produces one sweet-tart fruit before dying back to the pups at its base that carry the planting on. The fruit is eaten fresh, cooked or preserved, and its enzyme-rich juice can irritate skin and throat if handled carelessly. It needs frost-free warmth and takes nearly two to three years from planting to first harvest, so it only completes a crop cycle outdoors in the tropics - though its small size makes it one of the few tropical fruits practical to grow in a container and move under cover for winter. Its stiff leaves also yield a fine silky fiber that can be spun into cloth and cordage.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 10–12
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 4.5–6.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3–4 ft
- Mature spread
- 3–4 ft
- Plant spacing
- 3–6 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Root
Keep exploring
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African Eggplant
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Alfalfa
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Aloe Vera
Aloe vera
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
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Arrowroot
Maranta arundinacea
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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