Pineapple flowering induction ethephon forcing uniform harvest caution ananas
How do I induce uniform flowering in pineapple (ananas) using ethephon and what are the cautions?
SSanjay Rai8mo ago · 297 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓8mo ago
Pineapple can be forced to flower together using a plant growth regulator such as ethephon, which gives a uniform harvest and lets you target a better market window. Forcing is done only after the plants reach a suitable size and number of leaves, because forcing undersized plants gives small fruit. The treatment is applied to the growing heart of the plant per the label, and timing must be planned backwards from when you want the harvest. Overuse, wrong stage, or treating weak plants leads to poor fruit, so do not increase the dose hoping for better results. Follow the product label and confirm the plant readiness and method with your local KVK or horticulture department before forcing.
SSanjay Rai8mo ago
The lesson we learned the hard way is to wait until the plants are big enough, because forcing a young undersized block gave us small fruit that fetched a poor rate. Patience for a few more weeks of growth before forcing paid for itself in fruit size. Count the leaves and check plant size as your KVK advised, do not force just because a date arrived.
PPemba Sherpa7mo ago
We apply the solution into the central heart of the plant in the cool early morning, because in the heat of the day the result was uneven in our hill conditions. Treating the whole block within a short window is what gives the uniform harvest, so we organise enough labour to finish in a day or two. Planning the harvest backward from the festival market gave us a much better price.
TTenzing Lepcha7mo ago
A caution on dose and residue: we never overdose hoping for a stronger response, because the label rate is enough and extra just stresses the plant. Keep a record of the date and rate of forcing for your own planning and for any buyer who asks. Avoid forcing in very cold spells, the response was poor for us when it was too cold, so we time it for the milder stretch.