How Long Does it tTake to Grow a Pineapple | A Gardener’s Timeline

Pineapple is one of the delicious fruits that every other gardener wants to grow. If you want to grow pineapple by yourself and don’t know how long does pineapple take to grow, then stay with us because the answer might surprise you.

Normally, pineapples take about 22 to 28 months to grow and produce fruit. Will this time is not fixed and different factors affect its growth speeds. If you control them, you might reduce the time spent on pineapple growth.

Below in the blog, we explore what are the main factors affecting pineapple growth and how to speed up the process, so let’s get to it.

How Long Does it Take a Pineapple to Grow:

To understand how long do pineapples take to grow, we divided the pineapple growth into three of its basic stages. The first one is a vegetable stage, the second one is a flowering stage, and the third one is a fruiting stage. So, let’s get into all of these stages and explain how each one takes time to grow.

Vegetable Stage:

The vegetable stage table takes about 12 to 16 months to grow.  The first stage takes the longest time to grow because the pineapple plant needs time to grow strong roots, then leaves, and then strengthen the whole plant.

Flowering Stage:

After a year or so, the pineapple takes 2 to 5 months to grow flowers, which comes in its next stage. This flower stage is pretty slow as compared to other fruits, and it takes a couple of months to fully prepare a flower that can become a fruit.

Fruiting Stage:

After the flowering stage is completed, the next stage, which is fruiting, is started, and it takes about 5 to 7 months to grow a fully ripened fruit.

So, the pineapple can take about 20 to 26 months to grow into a fully ripened fruit ready for harvesting. Some people might not agree with this time because their pineapple growth takes either less time or more time to fully grow, and that is because of the different environmental factors.

Factor Affecting Pineapple Growth Time:

You don’t need to confuse the different growing times of pineapple, and they don’t need to match each other. Because it is under the influence of different things that either increase or decrease its growth time. Below, we discuss things that have decreased its growth time.

Temperature and Climate:

Pineapple is a tropical climate fruit and has warm temperatures. They like temperatures from 65 to 90 F (18 to 30 C) to thrive properly. If the temperature drops below the mentioned temperature, it will decrease its growing speed, and then it will take more time to grow mature.

So, if you live in a cold area or where the temperature doesn’t match the recommended temperature, then consider growing it in a green house. But if you are a gardener and want to grow just a few pineapples, consider growing them inside.

Nutrients and Soil:

In pineapple growth, soil and nutrients play an important role. Pineapples need a little bit of acidic soil with a pH of 3.20 to 4.0 pH. If you make sure that the soil has a proper pH value; otherwise, you will get slow pineapple growth.

Other than that, make sure that your pineapple has proper nutrients for optimal growth. Pineapple needs potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus, for which you need to provide fertilizer on a regular basis, but if you miss it, then it will slow down its growing process.

Related: How Long Does it Take to Grow Figs?

Planting Technique:

Planting techniques can also affect the growth of pineapple. The method and technique to grow pineapple from its crown will take about 24 to 28 months because they first develop roots, then foliage, and then start focusing on producing fruit.

Disease and Pest in Pineapple:

Just like every other plant, pineapple faces pest attacks like mealy bugs, Mites, Thrips, Bud moth, and nematodes that can really slow down the growing process. On top of that, it also faces some diseases like root rot, Phytophthora fruit rot, pink disease, yeasty rot, and heart rot includes which can not only damage the plant but also slow down the growing process.

To prevent your plant from slowing growth, you need to regularly check the plant for any pests or disease attacks, but if you find any, then you can use fungicides and pesticides accordingly.

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How to Grow Pineapple Fast:

In the above, we discuss some of the factors that slow down the growing process of pineapple, but now here we discuss how fast can you grow pineapples. Below, we listed and explained some of the factors that speed up your pineapple growth if you manage it properly.

Environmental Condition:

Different environmental factors can affect the growth of pineapple, which let me give you some that can speed up the growing process.

• The first one is temperature, and you know we mentioned that having a proper temperature range is important for pineapple, so to speed up the process, you should grow the pineapple in a greenhouse where you can control the temperature.
• The growing process can be sped up if you give pineapple only 6 to 8 hours of sunlight on a daily basis. Sunlight less or more than that can slow down its growth process.
• Mulching is a considerable process that speeds up the process of any vegetable or fruit, and that will do the same for pineapple. Mulch the ground around the pineapple plant to keep its roots warm and retain moisture as much as possible.
• Managing nutrients:

Providing the required nutrients can speed up the growth of a plant. On top of regular fertilization, you need to provide a foliar spray with magnesium and iron to speed up the growth of pineapples.

Maintenance of Pineapple:

The maintenance of pineapple includes pruning, which can be helpful to speed up the growing process of pineapples. You need to remove any dead branches and leaves because after getting dry, they still suck energy from the plant. Cutting extra branches can also save a lot of energy that can be used in the growth of pineapple.

Here is a video about Caring for Pineapple plant.

Choosing the Right Variety:

Nowadays, every plant has different varieties to choose from. Just like that, pineapple has collection or you can say varieties that have their own benefits, such as pest resistance, big fruit, and fast growth. So, if you want to grow a pineapple faster, then consider choosing a variety that grows faster than others, like red Spanish, queen, etc.

Conclusion:

Growing pineapple takes a long time, but trust me, it will be worth your wait. Basically, it takes two or so years to grow into a full-size pineapple that is ready to harvest and eat or store. However, some factors affect its growth time. Some can delay its growth time while others find it very useful to reduce that time and make it grow faster.

I hope you understand the process, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section below. In the meantime, you can visit our main website and explore gardening tips.