Archives for April 2025

2025 Update To Growing Pineapples in Singapore

I thought it was about time to update this article as we’ve seen a return to pineapple growth here in Katong, Singapore on my beloved balcony since the article was posted in 2020.

During 2021 – 2023 we had unseasonably wet seasons, which impacted the pineapple growth here with more overcast or rainy days than days where the sun was prevalent (A wet start to 2023 contributed to Singapore’s rainfall being the seventh highest since 1980 – according to Meteriological Service Singapore.) – hence there wasn’t much to show in terms of pineapple growth.

These long wet seasons also impacted both galangal and ginger growth during these years. It wasn’t until very recently that I’ve been able to harvest ginger again (both of these ginger variants do NOT like wet feet).

Currently we have 4 pineapples growing. 3 golden pineapples – two on plants that have been around for a few years in smaller pots, and one that is just on 2 years growing in a large deep basket. And my magnum opus of pineapple growing – The Malaysian Honey Pineapple, which is growing in the primary spot / basket that the monster golden pineapple in the original 2020 article grew in.

The amount of pups, suckers and slips growing is at least 5 and could be more as the wingspan of the sword leaves makes it difficult to access the soil area of the pot to check and see.

DanDan. Just gives us the good oil… How do we grow them BIG pineapples you are growing?

Short answer: fibrous roots

Confused? OK let me explain: What I’ve learned in the last 5 years is that sunshine is far more important than rain for pineapples, and that you can also trigger growth spurts with strategic fertilisation. As discussed in the previous article pineapples are bromeliads so they hold water like camels, but also with the deeper pots (or if you are growing them directly in the ground) they create a very large root structure and I believe this is why the bigger pots produce bigger fruits (even though the starting pineapple may have been small).

The deeper pots allow for far more nutrients to reach the plant, giving it more wingspan, more sun, more water, and also allowing the stem to feed more nutrients directly into the base of the fruit creating a much bigger fruit.

Check out this root system. It’s complex, tubular, and is nearly twice as deep as most pot-grown pineapples that I have; This is a huge indicator that much deeper soil will allow for greater sized plants, and ultimately larger fruit. The other point to note here is soil erosion in Singapore is prevalent. Even if you have preventative gauze in pots, over the course of the 2-year growth of the pineapple plant you are going to lose soil.

You might think… Can I just top it up? well no, the plant descends further into the pot as the soil erodes out the base, so adding more soil doesn’t help your root structure.

These two golden pineapples have taken an age to fruit – 4 years I think (which is twice as long as both of the pineapples in the deeper pots). These are in very shallow pots now as the soil has eroded significantly during this period, and these 2 are highly exposed to the weather. The fruit is still a decent size, what I would consider medium – smaller than most store-bought pineapples but larger than pineapples grown from slips, suckers and pups.

My Ultimate Pineapple Advice for 2025

Plant the pineapple in deep, well aerated soil. If it’s in the ground, fine. But if you are looking to achieve my elite results with a pot, you are going to have to replicate those conditions and get a tall, deep pot to house the plant. Pineapples like good soil, so don’t think that because they are hardy and you can grow them in dirt, that they’ll thank you for it. Finally, choose strategic fertilisation periods (right before rain is best), to ensure the roots will gain these nutrients which they can then feed into the plant to create greater wingspan, capture more sun, and to ultimately feed the fruit, through the stem once it flowers.

Introduction: Growing Pineapples

I’ve been living in Singapore for just over 5 years now and growing pineapples for 3 of those years; taking 3 all the way through to harvest (2 from tops one from a slip).

I currently have 7 Golden Pineapples and 2 Honey Pineapples growing with harvests all due later this year or early 2021.

There are two clear methods that are used to grow pineapples – Method 1 involves growing the pineapple plant from the top. Method 2 involves using the smaller slips and suckers that grow from a plant. Whilst the ratoon plants generally grow quicker, they produce much smaller fruit upon harvest.

Method 1: Growing the Pineapple from the Top

Once the top of the pineapple is cut from the fruit, set it to one side and allow it to dry. Remove excess leaves from the base to reveal the roots.

Choose a well-draining soil and fill either a medium-sized or large-sized planter pot and fill almost to the top with the soil. Ensure also that the pot is not enclosed so that water can escape.

Dig a suitably sized hole the matches the base of the pineapple root and plant the top firmly within. Ensure a solid watering through the very top of the pineapple, so that the leaves are holding the water – it will take care of itself at this point.

Place the plant in a sunny spot, where it will capture a good degree of direct sunlight as this helps with the plants growth

Revisit within a couple of days to see if the plant needs water and once again water down the centre as pineapples are bromyliads and will retain water in their central cup.

Method 2: Growing the Pineapple from Slips & Suckers

There’s two options here – you can let the sucker grow from the existing plant roots (if you’ve already harvested the pineapple) or you can harvest the slip or sucker and plant it by itself.

Option 1: Using the Existing Root Base

This is the simplest of the 2 methods as it allows you to basically just use a harvested pineapple plant to grow a sucker that is already attached to the plant roots.

There isn’t much to do here but cut back the leaves of the harvested plant, and give the sucker room to catch sunlight and spread it’s sword leaves to boost growth.

What you need to be careful of is the space in the pot. As sometimes you’ll have the sucker plant pushed out by its growth and it can end up dying if it gets too big and is fully pushed out of the pot.

Eventually the existing plant should die back and allow the new plant growth to envelop it, and continue the circle of life.

Post Harvest: Cut Back The Pineapple Plant

Once the pineapple has been harvested from the plant, it won’t produce another pineapple, so it is best to do a hard cut back all of the sword-like leaves – keeping the established root base intact.

If there is already a slip or sucker established this will grow using the existing root-base and will save much growth time as it will tap into the established nutrients and continue to grow.