🌸 Pine Apple — Soil,

This lesson summarizes pineapple cultivation with focus on planting systems, nutrient schedules, and flowering regulation.

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Pineapple: _ Ananas sativus _ ; Bromeliaceae

Varieties : Kew, Mauritius and Queen

Soil and Climate: Mild tropical climate as found in the humid hill slopes is best suited. Can be

grown in plains under shade. Elevation from 500 m to 700 m is ideal. A light well drained soil

with pH 5.5 to 7.0 is preferable. Heavy soils can also be used if drainage facilities are available.

Spacing: Plant in double rows either in beds or in trenches with the plants into the second rows

set in the middle of the plants in the first row.

The spacing between two trenches will be 90 cm. Row to row spacing in the same bed

per trench will be 60 cm and plant spacing within the row is 30 cm.

Planting: Use suckers and slips of 300-350 g weight for planting. Give a slanting cut to the

suckers before planting and dip in Mancozeb 0.3% or Carbendazim 0.1%.

Season: July – September

Manures and Fertilizers: FYM 40-50 t/ha. N 16 g, P 4 g and K 12 g/plant in two equal splits at

6 [th] and 12 [th] month after planting. Apply as foliar spray 0.5%-1.0% sulphate of Zinc and Ferrous

solutions at 15 days interval to overcome the deficiencies in the early crop phase.

Aftercultivation : To have uniform flowering apply the following when the crop attains 35-40

leaf stage. NAA 10 ppm + 2% urea (20 g in 1 lit of water) @ 50 ml / plant poured into crown or

2% urea + 0.04% Sodium carbonate + 20 ppm Ethephon (ethrel) @ 50 ml/ plant poured into the

crown. To increase the size of the fruit, 200-300 ppm NAA should be sprayed after fruit

formation. To avoid calcium induced Iron chlorosis adequate shade should be given.

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Plant protection

Mealy bug: Spray methyl demeton 2 ml/lit or monocrotophos 36 WSC 2 ml/lit

Crop duration: 18-24 months

Harvest: Fruits can be harvested from 18 to 24 months. Slight colour change at the base of the

fruit indicates maturity.

Yield: 50 t/ha

A plant crop and two ratoon crops are normally taken and in Mauritius variety upto five

crops can be taken.

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Summary Cheat Sheet

Topic	Key Point
Climate and soil	Pineapple prefers mild tropical climate and well-drained, slightly acidic soils.
Planting material	Healthy suckers/slips with fungicidal treatment improve establishment.
Nutrition	FYM plus split NPK application supports crop growth and yield.
Flower induction	Ethrel/NAA based crown treatments help synchronize flowering.
Productivity	One plant crop plus ratoons can sustain commercial returns.

References

2 sources • [1] [2]

[1]

Class notes: HORT 181 - Pineapple cultivation practices

[2]

Pineapple flowering and crop management recommendations (as cited in lesson text)