I agree with what the others have said. I've got about 5 fruiting pineapples now. The mother plant will die when the fruit ripens, or whenever the fruit is taken off. It's normal for a lot of people to just take the top off the fruit, put it in soil and with only an occasional watering you'll get a plant out of it. The base of the mother plant should produce a few suckers which should also develop into mature plants. When the fruit smells sweet it's fully ripened. Commercially they're picked earlier so that they travel better. Giving them occasional doses of weak fertiliser produces a better/larger fruit, although that's too late for yours now.

I agree with you about the hummingbirds....I have had three plants in bloom for a few weeks and had a passing hummer or two find it on their way through. Sure wish my regulars could have enjoyed it!

Thanks for the responses, everyone. The pineapple in dangermouse's photo looks like the type bought at the grocery store âÂ" a smooth cayenne, I'm assuming? âÂ" and I'm familiar with determining whether those are ready; in a couple of my photos, you can see those pineapples either in the background or on the periphery. (By the way, good show, dangermouse âÂ" I mean, good name!) However, these pineapples I'm trying to identify have pretty different coloration: They start out fluorescent pink and have changed to a sort of pale, even etiolated, yellow; from what I remember of the one or two pineapples I saw on my neighbor's bushes several years ago, I don't expect them to change to that rich golden yellow that smooth cayennes attain. The other problem is that the whole plant (and, by extension the crown of the fruit) is covered with some pretty brutal spines. This makes it difficult to get in and sniff. Nevertheless, I've tried, but either this thing doesn't smell like anything (yet) or I can't get in close enough. All my other pineapples âÂ" there were ten that ultimately came from store-bought fruit âÂ" have either come in or gotten eaten by animals. These pineapples âÂ" I think I forgot to mention that I have two âÂ" appeared later than the others, so it makes sense that they'd be the last that are ready. But I have no idea what clues to look for. Would it be a terrible idea to just bring one in and set it on the counter until it starts to either smell like something or look like it's about to start fermenting?

One of my POOPs (Pull it Out Of the Pantry). I've had these dried pineapple slices sitting around for ages, wanted to use them up to free up the storage for something that moves faster, and I had some leftover rum a friend gave me for rum banana bread . . . So I chopped up the pineapple and soaked it in the spiced rum for about a week, then added it to some banana coconut muffins. What a revelation!! This might even inspire me to buy some more! I tried some of it in crockpot pork once but the flavor washed out. It was great in these baked goods after soaking. I little flavor burst! Next time I am going to ditch the recipe which included coconut and banana, and just add them to a rum muffin recipe. Or a plain banana one. Here's the one I used, in case anyone is curious. It is metric, from Australia. It is good but too much going on so the pineapple doesn't shine as much as it could. I'm always looking for variations on banana bread or muffins. Dad insists on buying a whole bunch for his morning smoothies, but if they get even one brown spot, he is done with them. I have tried to get him to buy just a few . . . but anyway, I always have a freezer full of frozen brown bananas. Too bad Sure-Jell put the kibosh on their banana jam recipe! http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/16761/banana-and-rum-muffins.aspx Ingredients Serves: 12 2 cups (250g) plain flour 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 125g butter (I have a kitchen scale and weighed it. It came out to 9 TBLSP but the last one was scant. 1 cup (155g) brown sugar 2 large eggs 3 medium bananas 1 tablespoon rum essence (I used the soaking rum) 1 cup desiccated coconut 1/2 cup diced dried pineapple Preparation:15min › Cook:20min › Ready in:35min Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. (I used a 400 degree oven). Prepare 12 muffin cups with muffin cases. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl; set aside. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition then beat in the bananas and rum essence. Stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the grated coconut and pineapple mixing just enough to evenly distribute. Evenly divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean; 20 to 25 minutes.