Grow Your Own Pineberries: The Amazing White Strawberries With A Pineapple Flavor

Grow Your Own Pineberries: The Amazing White Strawberries With A Pineapple Flavor

You may think that you’ve tried all of the best fruits, and while that could be true, there are still plenty of options out there to discover! Not only are there plenty of foreign fruits that never make it to American grocery stores, but there are also lots of other native fruits you might not have had the opportunity to enjoy before. The cool part is that some of these you can grow on your own home! Consider the fascinating Fragaria x ananassa, or the pineberry, which is a non-GMO/GE female strawberry cultivar with a white color and seeds. They can also be faintly pink or yellow and they have a fascinating flavor mix of strawberries and pineapples. The best part is that they’re delicious and you can grow them yourself! (1)

Where Did Pineberries Come From?

Pineberries look a whole lot like strawberries, but they taste quite different. They are easy to grow in your own home garden and are completely safe to eat, despite the double-take they often get due to their strawberry-imposter appearance. It is not a genetically engineered fruit but rather a hybrid species. (1)

The original pineberry was “born” by breeding white strawberries from South America (fragaria chiloensis) and North America’s more traditional, red strawberries (fragaria virginiana). The original breeder, Hans de Jongh from the Netherlands, developed the technique of crossbreeding these two species in the early 90s. His delicious development has been enjoyed worldwide ever since, though it first became commercially available in the United States in 2012. (1)

The reason you might not have ever seen pineberries at your local grocery store is because they are difficult to impossible to mass produce. This fruit needs cross-pollination in order to blossom with fruits. As a female cultivar, the pineberry plant requires a male pollen grain to cross with and produce fruit. The solution to this problem is to plant traditional strawberries nearby pineberries in order to cross-pollinate as insects and the wind intervene. (2)

How to Grow Your Own Pineberries

Pineberries have a surprisingly short shelf-life. They tend to only last 1 to 2 days on a shelf, and barely any longer in the refrigerator. That makes them difficult for retailers to sell and make a profit. Generally, pineberries should be eaten upon harvesting or purchasing in order to avoid spoilage. Since they have such a short lifespan, you may as well grow your own! (3)

As mentioned, you have to grow a variety of self-pollinating strawberries nearby to help your pineberry plants pollinate. They can be planted as tiny starts in pots or patches of soil. Plant the pineberries in soil rich in organic matter, and macro- and micro-nutrients. The soil should ideally have a pH soil level of 5.5 to 6.5. (4)

Be sure there is proper drainage, but also that the plants are kept consistently moist. They will need 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, or more if the light is indirect. Opt for fresh soil rather than soil that’s been used to grow other plants. Water your plants on a regular basis, ensuring to add fertilizer every two to four weeks. Be sure to keep the plants free of weeds. Your plants should be growing soon! They’ll be ready to harvest when their fruits begin turning pinkish or yellow.

Time To Grow!

If you’ve never had pineberries before but you like both strawberries and pineapple, then you should give pineberries a try! You might be surprised at their unexpected flavor.