Sugarloaf Pineapples

Well the Sugarloaf pineapples I planted in Sept. '12 were harvested July while Maria was here. We had four of them. Sweet and juicy !! Not too acidic. These were some "pups" given to me by friends living in Judith's Fancy. Pups I had gotten from around the island and from my first plant are also doing well. Thus far though, Sugarloaf is number 1. Imagine, from pup to fruit in 10 months that's pretty good. This variety was primarily planted on Eleuthera back in the days and is still their #1 pine. Each plant produced 8+ pups and 2-3 suckers, and of course one fruit. Plenty future plants.

Maria came down to spend the Summer with her Dad and Emily so we spent a great deal of time with her. She was a real shot of energy for Mom and her recuperation from her hip replacement. Yea, that little disaster in Feb. has played significantly in our daily doings. But, she is doing well and moving about with the walker.

Oh, and the mango tree is growing great. Maybe one this year. Star fruit producing and Barbados cherry Wow!

Carambola, star fruit

I can't believe it. I planted this little carambola tree a couple of months ago and it's blooming like crazy and I found some small fruit already, for true! the damn trunk diameter is just about an inch. I am keeping it irrigated with drip and fed regularly so we will see if any of the fruit make it to maturity. I love star fruit, the small sweet ones that is. those big tart one are just good for garnish, IMHO. The wind out here can be quite drying and water is a premium so let's see what happens.

Pineapple & Nam Wah Banana Blooming

This morning while out tending the garden I noticed one of the pineapple I planted back in September is beginning to fruit. So cool and the Nam Wah banana is blooming. Must have been the rain we got over Easter. Poor folks camping on the beach, a Crucian tradition to move to the beach for Easter weekend, but the rain was truly needed.

Pineapple begining!

Nam Wah banana flowering.

Pineapple propagation, store bought pineapple, Part 2

With the pineapple top I potted back on Jan. 3rd. rooted in the pot and new leaves established it's time to move it into the container that it will be planted into the ground in. For the potting I use a soda cracker tin with holes punched in the bottom and lower sides, composted manure, and a high quality potting mix with pine bark and peat moss with a starter fertilizer. Once the leaves are 12 to 18 inches long I will plant it in the ground.

Loose potting mix  &  composted manure

Potted and ready to grow!

Pineapple propagation, store bought pineapple, Part 1

I have begun a pineapple area and have been adding to it as suckers and pups develop. Now I thought I would try a top from a store bought variety. This is marketed as a Guatemalan Gold or something like that. The leaves are smooth meaning no serrations, teeth, along them.  I cut off the top and trimmed any fruit material off. Let this top air dry for a couple of days. Then peel off several rows of base leaves. Place stripped end into some loose potting material and water-in.  Place in shady well ventilated area and keep moist. Weeks later the center leaves wilted and I removed them, new leaves followed from the center, now it's growing.  This was started in January.

Striped leaves

Potted in loose mix

New leaves in center.

Dwarf Nam Wah

The fruit May '12

Nov. '11

June 2011

Nam Wah is the larger on on left.

Where did 2012 go

  What? It has been  a year since I posted here. Wow! What a time, when in paradise time flies. You know with twelve hour days year-round everyday rain or shine is glorious. We just "go slow" there is always tomorrow.  A year in review:

Winter; turmoil in Paradise
Spring; chaos in Paradise
Summer; happy daze in Paradise
Fall; all's well with smiley faces and beautiful places

In review it was quite a year.  Really to much weird stuff to write about but refreshing the memories I say Wow! we made it through it. And for any who are interested please support NAMI. You never know when someone you know may need them.

Cheers!