Pineapples don't have seeds, how do they get new ones?
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I lived in Hawaii for 4 years and Dole & Delmonte Fruit Companies have HUGE plantations that grow nothing but Pineapples. What they do is slice the top of the pineapple off (the part with the green "leaves" & the top inch or two of the pineapple) and plant those in the ground row upon row and they turn into full grown plants that produce new pineapples, etc. Pineapples are not perrennials (they don't come up every year) they are one shot type plants. They grow, produce fruit, and then die.
After these plantations harvest the fruit, they burn off the entire field and plow it under and take the tops that they collect from the fruit factory in lage mesh trailers and put piles of the tops at various places in the fields. They then have workers come along with large back-pack type things and fill the back-packs with the tops of the plants and they walk down the rows and put each of them in the ground by hand. It's pretty amazing when you think about what is required, but after they are planted, it just takes lot's of water and sunshine and that's it. They are maintenance free. After planting, in about 4-6 months you have fruit producing plants ready to harvest.
Pineapples may in fact flower and have seeds, but that's not how they are grown for profit from what I've observed. They are more or less just like potatos. Cut up the old ones and jam them in the ground and they grow a new plant.
They do have seeds.
The cut off top of the pineapple can be planted and it will produce another fruit. Not sure if that's the way the big planters do it, but we did it years ago when living in Florida.
Don't recall that we got a very big pineapple. Maybe it's more for a decorative plant that way and not fruit.
They grow new ones from the crowns of the harvested ones.
Before the fruit develops, the plant flowers. The flowers give off seeds. The seeds yield new plants. Also, the plants will yield fruit for many years, so they don't need as many seeds as other fruits.
The top of the pineapple is planted to produce more fruit. It will also make a fun plant to put the top in a shallow bowl of water. It will keep the scent of pineapple alive in your house for a while too, thus saving you on the cost of air freshener.
pineapples DO have seeds. fresh pineapples are awesome!!
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