How Long Does It Take A Pineapple To Grow [Inc. After It Flowers]?

Understanding how the plants in your garden grow can sometimes feel impossible. Do you have a pineapple you're waiting on and have no idea what the growing timeline looks like? How long does it take a pineapple to grow? What about after your plant flowers?

We will answer these questions and many others throughout this article.

You can generally expect a pineapple plant to take 24 months to produce fruit. It's good to know that the suckers on your pineapple plant take around 18 months to sprout, which means the fruit will follow within the next year.

Think of these suckers as the flowers on your plant, which indicate fresh, tasty fruit is coming very soon!

As we begin, we will cover all things pineapples and discuss how long yours will take to grow. Whether you're new to growing this tropical fruit, have a plant already growing, or want to try harvesting pineapples at home, we're here to assist. With that said, let's dive right into this topic below!

How Long Before A Pineapple Plant Produces Fruit?

For those of you eagerly waiting on fruit from your pineapple plant, expect to wait around two years on average. As we said, you want to wait until your pineapple flowers (produce suckers), which is where your future pineapples will come from.

Luckily, these suckers usually take around 18 months to form, which indicates pineapples are on the horizon. You also want to factor in how much sun, water, and nutrients a pineapple plant gets, as this also affects fruiting timelines.

Considering this is a tropical species, you want to ensure your pineapple plant gets plenty of sun and moisture for those first two years.

Fruit can be tricky, so everyone's wait time will be slightly different. You want to let your pineapples ripen once you notice fruit form, so in total, this could be two years and a month or two extra.

How Often Do Pineapple Plants Produce Fruit?

You can typically expect a pineapple plant to fruit 1-3 times during its lifetime. Since this species is perennial, you will see a pineapple plant live for years at a time.

However, fruiting takes a long time, so you only get three batches per plant. On top of that, you might not see more than one or two pineapples from your plant if it isn't healthy.

Generally, the healthier your pineapple plant, the tastier and more frequent fruit it will produce.

It's also worth mentioning that most gardeners only witness their pineapple plant produce fruit one time before they have to replace it.

So, you take a gamble with this fruiting species, as not every plant is the same. Therefore, we recommend growing multiple pineapples in your garden to have a few pieces of fruit at the time of harvest.

Do Pineapple Plants Die After Fruiting?

Once your pineapple plant produces a pineapple, it is expected for it to die back a bit. However, the mother plant will produce new baby plants (offsets) at its base, which you can remove and replant.

So, although this species will technically die once fruiting, it also reproduces new pineapple plants for you to use for future fruit-growing.

One thing to remember is that you'll need to sever the new baby plants from the original. If you don't do this, your new offsets won't likely grow big enough to make fruit, hence defeating their purpose.

Again, you have two years before fruit should come, so there's no need to worry quite yet.

We recommend focusing on your current mother pineapple plant, giving it plenty of sunshine, and watering it once or twice weekly to encourage faster growth.

Can You Grow Pineapples From Seed?

Yes, this is perfectly fine if you want to grow pineapples from seed. That said, you need to find a few healthy seeds to plant in the ground before you can expect any growth.

As we said, the mother pineapple plant should produce offsets for you to replant, but seeds are fine for first-time pineapple growers.

According to HGTV, you can sometimes find seeds in pineapples at the grocery store, although these aren't likely to grow in the soil. Instead, it's better to purchase a bag of seeds from a nursery or plant store, which you know will shoot from the ground after a few weeks.

However, if you want to try growing seeds from a piece of pineapple fruit, you want to cut it, looking for tiny black seeds about three-eighths of an inch in from the outside edge.

Once you gather your seeds, you can place them into the soil and bury them. Make sure to give your pineapple plants plenty of water to encourage germination.

Furthermore, you can also purchase semi-grown or rooted pineapple plants if you don't want to wait as long, so there are plenty of options here.

Pineapple Plants "White Jade"

These pineapple plants will come fully rooted, should be between one and three inches tall, come in growing pots, ship via USPS, prefer partial to full sun, and do best in USDA zone eight.

Follow this link to see them on Amazon.

How Can I Make My Pineapple Plant Grow Faster?

There are ways to encourage faster growth if you don't want to wait two or more years for fresh pineapples. Generally, the best step you can take here is planting pineapples somewhere warm throughout the year.

Ideally, your pineapple plant will be in a location that stays around 85-90 degrees during the day and doesn't drop below the 60s at night.

You also want to keep a new pineapple plant well-watered, which encourages growth and suckers faster. According to Epic Gardening, you want to give a new pineapple plant around 6-8 inches of water.

Like most tropical plants, pineapples don't mind a bit of moisture in their soil, so it's better to keep it moist than let it dry out between waterings.

You might also want to fertilize your pineapple plant a few times yearly, which should speed up this fruiting and growing process.

Specifically, we recommend a 'dry' fertilizing product with around 6-10% nitrogen, 6-10% potash, 6-10% phosphoric acid, and 4-6% magnesium for optimal growth.

Can I Grow Pineapples Indoors?

Yes! If you don't live somewhere tropical enough, you can certainly try and grow pineapples inside. You'll need to give your pineapple plenty of space, light, and water inside.

Considering this species can become upwards of six feet across and six feet tall, not everyone will have sufficient space for one. However, if you have a greenhouse, garage, or screened patio, your pineapple plant could go there.

It's also worth noting that an indoor pineapple takes longer to fruit than one outside. Specifically, most gardeners report waiting three or so years for fruit, which is about 12 months longer than an outdoor plant.

So, as long as you are okay with the long wait, this should be a fun project.

On top of that, pineapples respond well to indoor growing, so even though the fruiting timeline is a bit longer, your plant should thrive as long as it gets enough sunlight.

How Much Sun Does A Pineapple Plant Need?

In a perfect situation, your pineapple plant will get at least six hours of total sun exposure daily. As we mentioned, pineapples are tropical, thus needing more warmth each day.

Besides requiring space and water, the sun plays one of the most critical roles in your plant's fruiting. If you plant a pineapple somewhere too shady, it's possible it won't ever produce fruit.

If possible, it could be even better to plant your pineapple somewhere that gets eight hours of sunshine each day, but again, this isn't technically required.

However, the more sun a pineapple plant receives, the healthier it will be and the faster it will grow.

How Often Should You Water A Pineapple Plant?

When it comes to a watering schedule for pineapple plants, this depends on a few factors. As we covered above, a newly planted pineapple needs frequent and sufficient watering to germinate/sprout.

So, if you recently put your pineapple into the soil, give it an inch of water twice a week. For more mature plants, you can cut back to one thorough watering weekly until the soil around your plant feels moist.

With that said, you don't want to overwater a pineapple plant. So, try to avoid giving your plant so much moisture that its ground becomes soggy.

Even tropical species can die because of waterlogging and root rot, so this is something to be mindful of.

If it's incredibly hot outside, you might want to increase your watering schedule or even give your plant a misting, so this will depend on the climate too.

Are Pineapples Easy To Grow?

Yes! Growing pineapples is much easier than you'd think. One of the benefits of this tropical plant is that you can grow it almost anywhere indoors and outside if the weather stays warm.

Pineapples are one of the few plants that grow incredibly well in pots, meaning people without gardens can also enjoy fresh fruit.

The only thing to remember is to give your pineapple plenty of sunlight, good watering, and the occasional fertilizing.

To Finish

Whether you want to grow pineapples from scratch, have a pineapple garden, or are curious about this tropical species, they can take a while to flower and fruit.

We found that pineapples generally take 24 months to produce fruit, although this can be slightly shorter or longer depending on the conditions.

In addition, you can expect suckers to form on a pineapple plant after 18 months, which indicates fresh fruit is on the way in the next year.

Made it to the end? Check out these helpful related plant posts below!

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