Pineapple as a houseplant

Someone help me figure out what I'm doing wrong.  My mother grew a pineapple plant years ago.  She just cut off the green part and an inch or so of the top of the pineapple, stuck it in water, and waited for it to root.  I've tried twice now, and mine never root.  Any help?

I have a lot of experience with this years ago.

As far as I can remember my pineapple tops were always sitting in water and continued to grow, making new leaves.

This article from Wikihow says to grow roots place in indirect light:

Also can't be overripe or underripe so that might be hard to achieve the right conditions.

https://www.wikihow.com/Grow-a-Pineapple

Anne Miller wrote:I have a lot of experience with this years ago.

As far as I can remember my pineapple tops were always sitting in water and continued to grow, making new leaves.

This article from Wikihow says to grow roots place in indirect light:

Also can't be overripe or underripe so that might be hard to achieve the right conditions.

https://www.wikihow.com/Grow-a-Pineapple

I tried my first one the way they talked about.  Then I talked to my mother, and she did it the way I mentioned in my first post.  Neither worked for me.  You may have hit on the solution, mine may have been overripe.  I'm going to keep trying.

i have several pineapple plants and even had 2 of them fruit, first make sure the pineapple that you buy has not ben cored. (they will drill out the center of the leaves so that people cant grow plants from them)  cut off the greens with up to an inch of fruit (it can be less than that also), peel off all the fruit, so that it doesnt rot, next peel off the bottom few layers of leaves, next put into a container with water, let the water go up to the leaves, and place it in a warm bright spot, mine sit in front of my southern facing  window.good luck

Hi Robert,

Welcome to Permies.

My sister has grown them from grocery store pineapples in the past, so I asked her how she did it and this was her response:

Twist the top off, don't cut it. Pull off some of the bottom leaves. You should see some white knobby things. Dunk it in rooting powder and stuff it in dirt. These get very large and have prickles.

I do think for quality fruit, you'll need plenty of sunshine, which is in short supply in my region, so I've never tried this myself.

Only to add that I've been told you get better results if you let it dry out a bit before planting in compost.

I once stayed at a project (Buddha Gardens) in Auroville, India, where they grew pineapples. They cut the tops about a centimeter or so below the top of the fruit and let this, with it's green leaves attached, to dry out for a week or so before placing it on the soil to root.