Growing your own pineapple

A pineapple flower.

Sorry this is late, apparently there are some problems with automatic posting and oddly I didn't catch it until today...

Well over a year ago discussed how to grow your own pineapple plant from a pineapple you purchase from the supermarket (Growing Pineapple).  Now, almost two years after planting the pineapple top we finally have a flower, which hopefully means we will have a fruit within a few months.  If you want to grow your own pineapples it really is quite easy.  First, buy a healthy looking pineapple from the grocery store.  Second, cut the green top off of the fruit.  Cut the top off about one inch below the green leafy portion, making sure at least some of the fruit is attached to the top.  Third, let the top dry out for several days. And lastly, plant the top in potting soil and make sure to keep the soil moist.  Within a few weeks your top should root and begin to grow.  You can tell if you have a healthy pineapple by looking at the leaves in the very middle of the plant.  If these smaller leaves are green and growing you know you have a healthy plant.  If there are no small leaves or if the leaves look unhealthy the plant is not doing well and you might want to start over with a new top.  In my experience nearly every top will root.  I have only seen one of these plants produce a flower though.  I would guess the other pineapple plants will eventually flower.