Abstract Pineapple fruit crowns are rarely used as planting material in Brazil. However, they can be used to produce plantlet in situations of scarcity of planting material of adequate quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the production and nutritional status of early shoots of different sizes produced from ‘Smooth Cayenne’ pineapple crowns with nitrogen fertilization after the removal of its apical meristem. The experimental design adopted was that of randomized blocks in a 4x4 factorial scheme, with four nitrogen doses (5, 10, 15 and 20 g of urea per pot), four minimum shoot lengths at harvesting (10, 15, 20 and 25 cm), with four replicates. Under full sun cultivation conditions, crowns produced 18.11 and 6.83 shoots with 10 and 25 cm in length, respectively, up to 380 days after planting and removal of the apical meristem. Pineapple shoots harvested at 180 days presented better biometric quality and can be harvested up to 380 days after crown planting. Increasing urea doses reduce P, K and Ca levels in the dry mass of shoots.