PINEAPPLE PLANT AND FRUIT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN FERTILIZED NATIVE SOIL AND ARTIFICIAL ROOTING MEDIUM

Pineapple from a uniform lot of planting material was planted in Hawaii, Honduras, Philippines, and Thailand to evaluate the effects of environments and native soil types on growth. One treatment at each location included planting in an artificial media consisting of peat-moss and vermiculite. Detailed weather data were gathered at each location to assist in interpretation of plant growth, forcing, and fruit production data. At all locations the plants in the artificial media grew faster than in native soil. In Thailand, and Honduras, plants in the artificial media could not be forced. In native soil, forcing ranged from 95% in Thailand to 100% in three of the other four locations. Data show that when the stem dry matter was above 8% of the total plant dry matter at forcing a fresh fruit weight/plant weight (at force) ratio of more than 1.0 can be obtained.