The mother pineapple can actually send up a second fruit from... somewhere. It's referred to as a rattoon fruit. I think, so it's not like they die IMMEDIATELY after fruiting. If the fruit you get from a pineapple is small -- like, baseball-sized instead of commercially-grown-pineapple sized -- it might mean the plant is too small when it flowers. I think three feet in diameter is probably the minimum size you can get normalish-sized fruit from, although I've heard some people say they need to be about five feet in diameter. Of course, there are also varieties of pineapple that just stay really tiny. Also if you don't want it to flower and die, you could probably just keep it indoors most of the year. That'll really stunt its growth and it'll take forever to do anything. Keeping it potbound might not work, though. Pineapples are pretty easy and I'm usually terrible with bromeliads. The only big issues are that they're sort of rot prone when not in active growth (they're technically succulents. The thing with epiphytic bromeliads where you fill the cup with water is not really a good idea with pineapples) and they need a lot of fertilizer when they ARE growing because they tend to develop some sort of mineral deficiencies. I think it's iron or something. Or at least mine do. It makes the new growth yellow and really narrow. You'll know it when you see it. Also they can get incredibly sharp.

patris,as you can see,Lisa knows her bromeliads,and I learned something too. And to clarify, the plant I grew was not the 'common' form,but was in a Hawaiian flower bouquet.You won't find it among pineapples at the grocery store.Its an ornamental plant more than for fruit production.The varigated ones have a few names; A.bracteatus Var.striatus;A.comosus Var.variegatus;A.bracteatus Var.tricolor.The names may be different,but to me,they look the same,green and white varigation,turning pink in good light.However there are spineless,as well as spined leaved varieties.Thats about it,I think. Bob

Betty: I know how you feel Betty. It took me three years before I actually did it last year. And I did not do it with all of my plants. I did not do this with my calamondin trees because I need all the fruits that I can have for my cooking. I even advice my friends here that forget what the experts said. We are just hobbyist and what we want is to see beauty of our plants and not growth. Besides I want to taste first the fruits of my plants. Now that I satisfy my 'hunger' I did what the experts said. And this is the result. So actually you have two choices and both of them are right. If you want growth, remove the fruits but if you want fruits then leave the fruits on the tree and the tree will take care of itself. Nature did not ask for humans to intervine with their natural growth. And thank you for a very nice compliment. Benny

I'm not sure if my experience will help, but I'll try. I have dwarf cavendish outdoors in a shaded location and they can stand shade in lieu of full sun, but they grow slower, and pup less frequently. I know you read that bananas feed a lot, and they do, but not as much as you plan. When I moved in they were neglected for a year (bank foreclosure) and were fruiting so they were neglected on watering and food. Now that they get irrigated at least weekly whether by rain or hose and are fed more regularly they are still slower to pup and fruit than other cultivars I have that get the same attention but more sunlight. So my advice would be to mulch them, don't let them dry out, feed "regularly" but vary the food source. Bananas also like clean wood ash, but don't use ash from paper or cardboard. As far as pups go, once the korm grows and spreads I think you'll have to find bigger buckets too. I also think you'll do better with multiple pots of bananas rather than one. I find that on occasion my pups will outperform the parent in fruit growth and pup production just by being in a different location. I hace some 8 or 9 different bananas and find very different growth habits based mostly on light.