I was in Asda in Bangor just before Christmas and I spotted amongst their Christmas florals, a rather unusual plant. Not the usual poinsettia, but a gold pot that looked like my 1970s’ plastic pineapple, with an almost fake looking type plant on top, and then as I got closer, a literal tiny pineapple on a stick perched in the middle.

Turns out this is what an actual pineapple plant looks like. Given as I am from Northern Ireland, I hadn’t seen one before! I could as easily imagined them growing like coconuts on trees. I certainly have tried growing absolutely everything else in my greenhouse, even watermelons, and bananas, unsuccessfully of course, but even I knew I couldn’t get a pineapple going.

The pineapple plants were decorative Christmas gifts and only £10. I was going to ask someone to buy me one, but already there were only a few left, so I just picked one up for myself that day with the groceries I was getting. I was in again before the 25th and they were all gone, so I’m not sure if they will be bringing the pineapples back in for a year round gift, but they did seem to be extremely popular, so if they sold them in spring they could still sell I would imagine. I would love to see other unusual plants sold too.

The little tag with the pot said that because the plant produces oxygen at night, it can help reduce snoring, and help with sleep apnea.

I wonder will I be able to grow a full size pineapple?