One of my pineapples grown from tops (I have two) has gotten so big that it is dangerous to my son, on whose desk it sits. The leaves have twisted around to get the light from the window it sits beside, and I really don't have another sunny window in the house where it would fit. Is there any way I could move it outside? What low temps will pineapples tolerate? We live in central South Carolina, where it does get below freezing, but it generally doesn't stay there for long. Is there any remedial care I could give it during cold snaps that would allow it to survive the winter? Thanks for your help. Rachel

We had a presentation at the Tropical fruit club from a D*** grower. It is appx an 18mo cycle. To get fruit the 2nd year you need to start your tops or offsets in feb or march. Never cut the tops off just twist them off and let them dry out for a week or so. Peal back the first few layers of leaves on the bottom to expose the tiny roots. A slightly acid sandy or well draining soil no peat moss. He used cheap top soil mix in his pots. Use 12'' or larger pots Since nematodes are abundant in sandy soils found in Fl. he recommended pots only in Fl. Fertilize monthly with 20-0-0 for the first 6 months 20-0-20 second six months a foliar is best. This is assuming the typical Fl soil is high in Phosphate. If the plant is waist high appx5.5 to 6.5 lbs by weight by the time we get cold weather you should have a fruit by spring. The lower temp. is the key to when it fruits. If the plant is too large by the time you get cold weather it will never fruit. He recomended getting rid of large plants that have never fruited by the second spring. Keep water off the fruit when it is in flower and stop fertilizing. The fruit is ripe when you can easily snap the fruit off. The fruit is at its peak the moment you harvest, It will not ripen off the plant. It begins to lose sugar content right then.

I have a pup from Whitman's collection. Real slow grower. Eggo, do you think clipping the ends of the fronds will hurt the plant any? That will cut down on the amount of space it takes and prevent future skin punctures!

Must have been a slow server somewhere! Re: Hedychiums, those from the Himalayan states are very easily grown due to their inherent cold tolerance. However, many have longer growing seasons and our cool, slow build up to summers (typical of an oceanic climate) means that some resume growth late and do not have enough time to flower away from the south. Coronarium is possibly the worst in this respect and rarely flowers reliably when planted permanently out of doors. It grows well here and is usually evergreen, but never flowers before late October. Not a problem for me since our winters are very late and short lived, but elsewhere its usually a non-performer. BTW. I reckon gardnerianum has the best fragrance of all, but as you infer, it is less hardy. Another brilliant performer usually in September through to November is H. flavescens and its fragrance is very powerful. It would seem that there are upwards of 30 different species of palms that may be possible in the southern part of the UK. Your 'Bangalow Palm' - Archontophoenix cunninghamiana looks promising although it does need careful siting. Less problematic are 2 other 'Oz' palms - Livistona australis and Livistona decipiens. Both seem pretty happy. The Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana) is also coming under scrutiny for sheltered southern gardens and the only reason for it to be a rare contender is that its slow growth means it is a rather expensive subject for experimentation. I've got a couple of small seedlings (2ft. tall) that have wintered out of doors in deep shade. I've also found the 'Nikau palm' - (Rhopalostylis sapida) to be very tough and enduring here. So much so that even 1 year old seedlings in pots were able to cope with winters out of doors. They are slow, but gradually making headway and I've now got 12 that are becoming rather fine plants. Another that is being tried is the 'big mountain palm' (Hedyscepe canterburyana) from Lord Howe Island. It is half way between Rhopalostylis and Howea in terms of hardiness, but seems happy out of doors here. There's even talk of trying the 'Red leaf' or 'Blushing' palm - Chambeyronia macrocarpa in warm shade with overhead evergreen cover. How it will cope with comparatively long periods of cool weather remains to be seen, but it does appear to be 'pushing the envelope' at colder temperatures in the US.