Because pineapple production is the most reliant on chemical manipulation of any crop, this programme is specifically designed for pineapple production, where timing is the primary management tool.
Phase 1: Flower Induction
Pineapples grow from slips, crowns, or suckers from the previous crop. Winter blossoming begins depending on planting time. Uneven flowering causes harvesting issues. Spraying the crop with Ethephon (1 l + 80 kg urea spray per ha) at the time when natural flowering was supposed to occur, is known as “flower forcing” or “flower induction.” This treatment ensures crop-wide blossoming. 125 cc Ethephon + 2.5 kg spray urea per ha can be applied to Queen Pineapple crowns.
Phase 2: Increase Fruit Mass
If the fruits are still too small 2 – 3 months before anticipated harvesting time, treating them with SwellPine (Cloprop) cover spray will increase the fruit mass and reduce the crown growth. However, this treatment will also delay harvesting by at least 4 weeks. Effective on Cayen and Queen pineapple cultivars.
Phase 3: Fruit Colour
Pineapple fruit normally reaches the optimal sugar content while the fruit is still green. To improve the fruit colour and promote earlier marketing, the fruit can be sprayed with Ethephon a second time (concentration of 2 – 4 l/ha) at the stage when the colour change is just observed.