"We passed on an otherwise perfect house because it abutted a highly used nature trail. Sure, 99.9% of the people going by are fine, but what about the .01%?" That is why I mentioned checking the predator list. We looked at a nice house on 5 acres that was in a great area. The elderly resident was moving into a nursing home. While we were walking the property, we happened to run into the neighbor next door and had a chat with him. He seemed very nice. When I got home I did an offender search for that vicinity and was startled to learn that this 'nice' neighbors son was on the list for child offenses, domestic battery and burglary! He had lived elsewhere for awhile but was back living with his parents. It made me wonder if the children of the elderly woman had moved 'mom' out because of this. Needless to say we passed on the house. A little later I was curious to see who bought the house and learned that a couple with 2 young children had moved in. I didn't want to take the chance that they didn't know about the guy who lived next door, so I sent them an anonymous note with a print out of the offender and the stats (address). I didn't want to scare them but I would have felt terrible if I had neglected to share what I knew. It takes a village to keep kids safe in this day and age. I'm very happy to do my part to help any/every child enjoy a safe, happy childhood.

I hate using chemicals on anything, but I have to agree that Ken's method is very handy and I have adopted it. I put undiluted roundup in a dropper bottle, then cut the offender at/near ground level then drop RU on the cut stump. Done and done. I use very little chemical and none of it sprays around to unwanted places. The cats can follow me around as I'm doing this and I don't worry. I don't feel an urge to take a huge shower after doing this - it's as clean as one can be while tackling an unpleasant task. I've started doing this on non-woody plants like thistles and it works too. Good luck!

The nursery told me herbs were easy and they preferred dryer soil so I water once a week but even so, ==>>> a newly transplanted plant .. of any kind.. needs enough water .. to settle in.. and get its roots pumping again ... before they will have any kind of drought tolerance ... and.. these are NOT plants the favor lack of water ... and your coir system does favor excessive drying ... if you were growing them indoors.. in a sunny window.. i might also tell you to make sure you dont overwater ... but out in the wind .. in that configuration ... i say .. water more .. i only had one plant over the years in coir ... and it seems to me.. i watered it once or twice a day ... until the water ran out the bottom ... and it still usually ended up drying to the detriment of the plant ... in other words ... what sonni said ... ken ps: what im thinking ... with no pot walls .. the wind is running thru the media ... and drying it from the sides and bottom ... thereby increasing drying ... as compared to a plastic pot with sides and a bottom ...

That is an offset or 'pup' like all bromeliads produce. If you can easily separate from mom and remove to another pot, you will have a second pineapple plant coming on!!