Pineapple Planting Methods and Technical Requirements: Do You Need to Plant Them Every Year?
The pineapple is a very popular fruit in spring and summer. Do you know how it is grown? Would you like to find out? Let's take a look together! (1) Land preparation When cultivating pineapple, the clearing and preparation of the field are very important. The coarseness or fineness of land preparation will affect the future yield and quality of the pineapple. Therefore, for flatland cultivation, it is advisable to use a large tractor to plow, break up the soil, and harrow it level; for slope cultivation, an excavator can be used instead. This not only saves time and labor, but also allows the depth of deep plowing to reach more than 30 cm, which helps bury stubborn weeds and pests and pathogens remaining in the topsoil deep into the soil. Flatland with poor drainage is suitable for high-ridge cultivation, and the drainage system around the field should be properly set up to prevent the plants from being waterlogged and affecting growth and quality. When opening a pineapple field on sloped land, attention should be paid to adopting contour-line planning and carefully arranging orchard roads, so as to facilitate the entry and operation of vehicles and tillers, and planting pineapple along contour lines can prevent soil erosion. After land preparation is completed, 10000∼15000 kg of organic fertilizer, 915 kg of ammonium sulfate, 880 kg of superphosphate, and 530 kg of potassium chloride per hectare should be applied as base fertilizer, adjusting the soil pH to between 4.5∼6.0.
The pineapple is a very popular fruit in spring and summer. Do you know how it is grown? Would you like to find out? Let's take a look together!
(1) Land preparation
(1) Land preparation
When cultivating pineapple, the clearing and preparation of the field are very important. The coarseness or fineness of land preparation will affect the future yield and quality of the pineapple. Therefore, for flatland cultivation, it is advisable to use a large tractor to plow, break up the soil, and harrow it level; for slope cultivation, an excavator can be used instead. This not only saves time and labor, but also allows the depth of deep plowing to reach more than 30 cm, which helps bury stubborn weeds and pests and pathogens remaining in the topsoil deep into the soil. Flatland with poor drainage is suitable for high-ridge cultivation, and the drainage system around the field should be properly set up to prevent the plants from being waterlogged and affecting growth and quality. When opening a pineapple field on sloped land, attention should be paid to adopting contour-line planning and carefully arranging orchard roads, so as to facilitate the entry and operation of vehicles and tillers, and planting pineapple along contour lines can prevent soil erosion. After land preparation is completed, 10000∼15000 kg of organic fertilizer, 915 kg of ammonium sulfate, 880 kg of superphosphate, and 530 kg of potassium chloride per hectare should be applied as base fertilizer, adjusting the soil pH to between 4.5∼6.0.
(2) Mulching
When cultivating pineapple, mulching the ridge surface is also very important. The operation method is shown in Figure 11, which uses black PE plastic film for mulching. It has the characteristics of being economical, labor-saving, clean, and convenient to operate. After mulching with plastic film, it can prevent weeds and soil erosion, and can also increase soil temperature, which is beneficial to pineapple growth and increases yield.
(3) Planting period
The planting period should be calculated backward according to the target production month. For example, if harvesting is intended for April of the following year, it is advisable to choose Tainung No. 17 and plant it in October of the previous year, then force flowering in October of this year. If planting is scheduled for the end of the year, crown slips, butt slips, and suckers can be used. If field planting is carried out in early spring, only crown slips and suckers can be used for propagation. Shortly after planting, the rainy season begins and the temperature gradually rises, which is beneficial to plant growth. Pineapple is a perennial crop with a long cultivation period. The cultivation system commonly used at present is one crop with two harvests, that is, harvesting fruit twice in three years as one renewal cycle. The planting density and arrangement have developed from scattered or multi-row planting (about 50,000∼60,000 seedlings per hectare) to two-row triangular close planting (35,000 to 40,000 seedlings per hectare). The appropriate ridge spacing is about 100 cm, row spacing about 50 cm, and plant spacing 36∼30 cm.
(4) Weed control
The common weed species in pineapple fields in Taiwan, China are most commonly weeds of the Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Cyperaceae families. If the weeds in the cultivation field are too luxuriant, they will directly affect sunlight penetration and ventilation, encroach on the space for pineapple plant development, and compete for needed nutrients and water, thereby hindering plant growth and reducing the pineapple heading rate and yield. Therefore, weed control must be carried out.
(5) Black PE plastic film mulching
Usually, from planting to the first harvest in a pineapple field, if weeds are controlled manually, it must be done at least 10 times. Especially during the rainy season, weeds grow rapidly and cannot be eliminated completely, which also increases production costs. In addition, labor is difficult to hire, delaying the weeding period, which will affect pineapple plant growth and fruit yield. Therefore, covering with black PE plastic film before planting can prevent weed growth and achieve the effect of timely weed control.
(6) Irrigation and fertilizer management
1. Irrigation: Although pineapple is a crop with extremely strong drought tolerance and can grow and be harvested even without irrigation, when the water supply is insufficient, it will still affect growth and fruiting. Especially in the dry climate from October to March of the following year, water is often slightly lacking due to insufficient rainfall. Therefore, if an appropriate amount of water can be supplied during this period, it can promote plant growth and development and improve yield and quality.
1. Irrigation: Although pineapple is a crop with extremely strong drought tolerance and can grow and be harvested even without irrigation, when the water supply is insufficient, it will still affect growth and fruiting. Especially in the dry climate from October to March of the following year, water is often slightly lacking due to insufficient rainfall. Therefore, if an appropriate amount of water can be supplied during this period, it can promote plant growth and development and improve yield and quality.
2. Fertilizer management Reasonable and appropriate fertilization can make pineapple plants grow vigorously, increase yield, produce suckers earlier, and also increase the next year's yield. The current fertilizer management method can be coordinated with the operation before plastic film mulching, applying part of the chemical fertilizer (30% nitrogen fertilizer, 100% phosphorus fertilizer, 50% potassium fertilizer) together with organic fertilizer into the soil to reduce the number of topdressings. The remaining fertilizer is applied in 3 or 2 applications at 6 months and 9 months after planting and after flowering, or at 6 months after planting and after flowering. When applying the first topdressing, because the plants are still small, it should be applied into the soil. The 2nd∼3rd topdressings can be applied to the leaf axils at the base of the plant.
3. Fertilizer application rate
During the main crop period from planting to the first fruit harvest, each pineapple plant requires about 16 grams of nitrogen, 4 grams of phosphorus, and 16 grams of potassium. If 40,000 plants are planted per hectare, then 3,050 kg of ammonium sulfate (or 1,390 kg of urea), 880 kg of superphosphate, and 1,280 kg of potassium sulfate (or 1,060 kg of potassium chloride) are needed. In the ratoon crop period, phosphorus may not be applied, and the amounts of nitrogen and potassium are halved.
(7) Production period adjustment
When producing crops, in order to avoid short-term or seasonal unsalable produce that affects farmers' income, it is often necessary to adjust the production period according to market demand, variety characteristics, and suitable production timing, so that production and sales can be coordinated to safeguard industry development. Pineapple is the crop with the earliest and most successful development of fruit tree production period adjustment technology in Taiwan, China.
(8) Sun protection
Pineapple fruits are prone to sunburn. If the fruit is sunburned by the scorching sun, it will lose its commercial value. To prevent fruit sunburn, sun protection treatment must be carried out. In practice, 6∼7 leaves around the fruit can be tied together above the fruit with rope (Figure 17A). Cardboard (Figure 17B), paper strips (Figure 17C), straw (Figure 17D), and the like can also be used to cover the fruit. If the fruit is too large and lodges, zinc pipes can be set up on the outer side of the planting row, and lead wire can be pulled to straighten it and avoid lodging, which can also reduce the occurrence of sunburn. Generally speaking, No. 16 is suitable for tying leaves for sun protection, while other varieties are suitable for using cardboard, paper strips, and straw for sun protection.