Pineapple Planting Methods

Pineapples have a unique appearance, with spirally arranged diamond-shaped spines. The skin is yellow or bright yellow when ripe, and green when unripe. It is made up of many diamond-shaped pulps with a hard core in the middle and rough skin between the pulps that needs to be removed. Let’s learn a pineapple planting method below.

1. Choose a reasonable location and build an orchard

Based on the adaptability of pineapples to the environment, slopes with warmer winters, less frost, and soil pH between 4.5 and 6.0 are selected as orchards. After selecting the site, horizontal terraces are built along the contour lines, the soil is turned 40-50 cm deep, perennial weeds such as thatch are thoroughly removed, and flood control and drainage facilities are dug according to the size of the terrain.

2. Seize the opportunity and plant reasonably

The planting time of pineapples is relatively flexible. They can be planted at any time except the severe cold and drought period from December to January of the following year. If off-season cultivation is required, transplanting should be done in March to ensure that the fruits can be put on the market during the fruit off-season in March-April of the following year. Choose healthy, mature suckers or large buds with thick stems and lush leaves. When planting, each seedling is required to have more than 10 large leaves and weigh more than 200 grams. According to experience, the planting density per mu should be 1000-1200 plants.

3. Pay attention to potassium fertilizer and apply sufficient basal fertilizer

Pineapples grow rapidly and have a high demand for potassium. Therefore, applying sufficient base fertilizer and paying attention to potassium fertilizer are the keys to achieving high yields. The base fertilizer is mainly composed of wood ash and soil fertilizer, with a small amount of superphosphate, and 0.25-0.5 kg is applied per hole. Applying sufficient base fertilizer can help improve soil structure, enhance soil permeability and water and fertilizer retention capacity, and create a good environment for the growth of pineapple roots; at the same time, the seedlings can absorb nutrients after they survive, promote rapid growth of roots and leaves, make the plants strong, and produce early and high yields. In addition, applying base fertilizers such as wood ash can also improve the plant's resistance to cold.

4. Timely topdressing and strengthening management

1. Apply fertilizer in time

After the seedlings survive, apply top dressing every 1-2 months, 25 grams of urea per plant, preferably after rain. In July, apply heavy fertilizer to promote flowering, with 50-100 grams of compound fertilizer per plant. During the fruit expansion period, apply foliar fertilizer 1-2 times (0.2%-0.4% urea aqueous solution). After February, as the weather warms up, strengthen fertilization management and apply foliar fertilizer in time to promote rapid growth of plants.

2. Inter-row coverage

In order to protect the root system, keep the soil moist, inhibit weed growth, reduce ground temperature in summer and autumn and increase soil temperature in winter, it is necessary to cover the rows throughout the year. The covering material can be straw or mountain grass, with a thickness of about 3-4 cm.

3. Intertillage and weeding

Pineapple roots have a strong demand for oxygen, so the soil must be kept loose and breathable. Weeding should be done promptly between small rows not covered with straw and under the leaf canopy. Be careful to weed shallowly to avoid damaging the roots. Generally, weeding and weeding are carried out 1-2 times in May before weeds bloom and when the soil becomes compacted after rain. After October, as the weather becomes drier, the soil should be tilled and loosened to prevent drought, retain moisture, and remove weeds.

5. Promote flowering and fruiting in a timely manner and adjust the harvest period

1. Flowering

For pineapples planted in March, after 5-6 months of rapid-growing cultivation, by August, when the plants are over 35 cm tall and have 25-28 leaves over 35 cm long, in order for the fruits to be available on the market in March or April of the following year, ethephon is used to induce flowering. The concentration is 0.025%-0.05% (100 ml of 40% ethephon plus 80-160 liters of clean water). The concentration is low when the temperature is high and high when the temperature is low.

Adding 1% urea to the ethephon dilution will achieve better results. Pour 20-50 ml of the prepared diluted solution into each plant, or spray it into the heart of the plant with a backpack sprayer. Ethephon should be used to induce flowering before 10:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. on a sunny day. Buds will generally appear 28-30 days after induction of flowering. When using ethephon to induce flowering, please note:

The plant for forcing flowers to bloom must be strong, with 25-28 green leaves that are more than 35 cm long.

Ethephon is a growth regulator, not a fertilizer . Fertilizer should be increased before and after flowering to increase production.

Master the appropriate concentration, too high a concentration will inhibit growth.

2. Promote fruit enlargement: Use 0.2%-0.4% urea aqueous solution for foliar fertilizer during the fruit expansion period to promote fruit development and achieve high yield and high quality.

6. Topping and bud removal

Top the plant in time after the flowers fade, remove the crown buds and excessive suckers, concentrate nutrients on the growth of small fruits, and at the same time retain 1-3 strong buds near the ground to replace the mother plant after the fruit is harvested.

7. Bagging to protect fruits

Pineapples like warmth and are afraid of frost, so they should be bagged around the "Minor Cold" to protect the fruit from the cold. Use a vest bag for bagging. Be careful not to tear the bag, and add paper or cloth inside the bag to absorb moisture and keep it moist to prevent freezing. The fruits protected by bagging are large and do not crack, and have high economic value; the fruits without bagging are small and crack, and have low economic value.

8. Disease and Pest Control

When pineapples are cultivated off-season, there are fewer diseases and pests because the temperature is lower when the fruit is ripe. It is mainly used to control beetle larvae during planting and to prevent rats during the mature stage. No pesticide is needed at other times, which meets the requirements of pollution-free.

9. Harvest at the right time

Pineapples are planted off-season and after one year of management, they enter the harvest season in March or April of the following year. The fruit can be harvested when 2-3 rows of fruitlets at the base are yellow, the fruit stalk is slightly wrinkled, and the fruit is slightly tilted. Harvesting should be done in stages and batches, with the ripe ones being harvested first.

The above is an introduction to pineapple planting methods . Growers can plant scientifically based on the above methods and actual conditions.