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Yay! Pineapple Seeds and Other Tidbits

Category: Container Gardening | Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:28 pm

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I was nibbling away on a freshly cut pineapple this morning when I came across five seeds. Yes, seeds. In a Pineapple! I mean, I knew, as a fruit, that Pineapples should have seeds somewhere along the way but it was an abstract thought like Banana seeds. You know they must exist but you never think of them in the same context as the fruit due to the commercialized habit of offering some produce without seeds.


So, you can imagine my shock when I saw those little brown pips this morning.


I am so going to grow some pineapple!


According to the New Crop Resource Online Program's info on Pineapples, it is suggested the seeds be immersed in sulfuric acid for a brief period to eat away at the seed case, thus increasing the speed and probability of germination. Ain't nobody got time (or money) for that. :-D


Instead, I'm going to experiment. Two seeds, I'm going to take a nail file to. One seed I'm going to grow as normal. The remaining two seeds will be grown after being kept moist. This is going to be so much fun.


I'm hoping all the seeds grow to maturity. I'm also going to have another look at the skin of that pineapple to see if I can find more seeds.


My reason for buying the pineapple was to grow the crown and, it's currently sitting in a pint container in an inch (4cm-ish) of water with my fervent hopes that it'll root and grow to its full potential.


In other news, I finally got a sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and I plan on sprouting that as much as possible considering how small it is. I'm hoping to take my very large container and grow a few different things in it, sweet potatoes being one of those things.


I previously grew Sweet potatoes successfully via a container in 2002/2003, planting in April of 2002 and harvesting in February of 2003. The reason for the late harvest was because I didn't expect it to be more than an ornamental plant given I was growing it in my window. Imagine my shock when, on watering it, I saw the telltale salmon colored root popping up from the dark potting soil.


It was most delicious. :)


My Nasturtiums and Radishes are growing. The Nasturtiums look great with multiple true leaves. The radishes, don't look as well but they're getting leaves finally. Somehow, I don't think this cultivar's twenty two day harvest expectation is going to be met though. Instead, I will grow it for beauty's sake.


My Spider plants, Orange trees, Snake Plant, and Aloe Vera are growing very well. I don't know what my fern is doing. I'm at a loss for words on its growing behavior. The center is growing just fine with vibrant green leaves. The outer part of the plant looks like WWXVI hit it hard. If I only knew what kind of fern it is, I could remedy this with appropriate pruning, watering, fertilizing or howling at the moon.


My evil...erm I mean future plant plans involve planting a good number of seeds in currently existing plant pots as well as newly purchased pots. I have Cinnamon Basil, Coleus, Lemongrass and Geranium seeds as well as a lot of ambition in my hopes that I can somehow grow them all.


The Cinnamon Basil, I've had a lot of success with in the past but this is my first time buying it from a new grower. Previously, I bought it from Seeds of Change but this year, they didn't have it, so I got it from Park Seed Company instead. I had so much good production with this variety that I'm sure, regardless of merchant, it'll grow true and produce a bountiful crop.


The Coleus I grew four years ago grew very well. I got that from the local Box store's garden department. It was Burpee's brand but I forgot the varieties except that it was a mix. I'm looking for equal to greater success now that I've grown them at least once. This time around, I am growing Rainbow Mixed Colors.


I haven't grown Lemongrass since High school, nearly sixteen years ago. Like with Nasturtiums, I ate it before it could reach it's full potential. Much to my shame. This time around, I'm hoping to grow a full pot of it. These seeds are Burpee also.


The Geraniums I'm planning on growing are Border Mix and they're also produced by Burpee. This is another plant I grew in High school Horticulture shop but I grew mine from greenhouse cuttings rather than seed. This is my first attempt at growing them via seed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will reach their full potential.

Last edited: Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:08 pm

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Introduction - Oh, Hi There!

Category: Miscellaneous | Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:34 pm

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Well, this is lovely. I like this site already as it combines two of my favorite things: Gardening and writing.

A little about my garden. I am agoraphobic, so my garden is really a bunch of containers around my house. I do my best. In some areas of horticulture, I succeed and in others I fail...dismally. I keep trying though, so I'm sure I'm earning brownie points for that.


The oldest plant I am growing is a Sanseveria (Snake Plant) and I acquired it via a piece I got from High school in 1998. My poor baby. I went for a year without watering it and it still survived. It's currently sitting in my window.


I made several more cuttings off of it and put them all in one six inch pot to give the appearance of a fuller plant. Between more frequent watering and the addition of fertilizer, it took off in growing. At the tallest point, it's currently 27" high from the base of the plant to the tip of the tallest leaf.


Next in age is my supermarket rescue Aloe Vera plant. I bought it in 2000 and managed to break my poor baby's head off. Undaunted, I kept the remaining stalk of the plant watered and was delightfully surprised to find it budding again from the remnants. It's currently about 12" high at its tallest point and has several offshoots.


After that comes my spider plant. My therapist gave me a piece off of her plant in 2007 and I've been growing it ever since. It has made several offshoots, some of which are now growing in other people's homes as gifts.


Next comes my orange trees. I planted one seed in 2010 and two stems came out of the soil. For a while, they did okay on water alone but I eventually began to see the telltale sign of malnutrition on both of them. Unfortunately, I'm very poor, and couldn't afford fertilizer right away. Thankfully, they hung on despite the diet of water alone. I just got some fertilizer...finally and they're both now growing out of all recognition.


From there, comes my supermarket spawn: my Ginger plant. I bought a rhizome of ginger from my local supermarket in the spring of 2011 and sprouted it. Given my past history with gingers of various types, I didn't have high hopes that this one would survive, let alone thrive. It did though. I enjoyed a lovely plant but no flowers for two years before I got hungry and harvested a piece off of it. I have to say how delicious it was. I made cookies with it that were wonderfully flavored. I then replanted the remaining rhizomes and left it alone from December through February. It's now sprouting new shoots already and it isn't even Spring yet.


Another supermarket rescue is my African Violet plant. I bought it in November of 2013 to overcome my fear of growing the plant. I was fully expecting it to die as my previous attempt had. I placed it in a shady patch beneath my bedroom window and waited. It also not only survived but it thrived.


A profusion of blooms soon came up from the center. I could scarcely believe what was happening and took pictures thinking that, at any moment, the horticultural anvil would land on my attempts at growing this plant and something would kill it. I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago to find that it's blooming again. The only thing I did was give it a bit of the same fertilizer mentioned previously in this entry.


On the same day I purchased the African Violet, I saw a sad looking fern. To this day, I have no clue what kind of fern it is as it wasn't labeled in the Supermarket. I'm doing the best that I can with it but, for some reason, it's not thriving like the other plants. I had another fern I bought a month after from the same supermarket that has died already. I'm hoping for the best but, it doesn't look good.


Next up, in the 2014 column are my Radishes, Tomatoes and Nasturtiums.


The radishes are Burpee's Cherry Belle and I planted them along with Super Sweet 100 cherry Tomatoes on 21 February 2014. I planted the Radishes in the ginger pot and the cherry Tomatoes in the window in a small spare pot I had. I have high hopes for both.


The Nasturtiums, I planted on 25 February 2014 and I planted four seeds a piece in the two orange tree pots.


My future plans include planting the seeds I just purchased this year. Those seeds are: Park's Seed Company's Cinnamon Basil, Burpee's Coleus Rainbow Mix, Lemongrass and Geranium Border Mix.


I also have Blood oranges and strawberries coming in a few days from now from a different supermarket, plans to get more seeds, including peppers and plans for taking the plunge and growing mushrooms.


That's everything, I think. Please, if you find anything here interesting. Say hello. :)

Last edited: Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:03 am

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