anannas :

Cultivation:

A plant of the moist, mainly lowland tropics, where it can also be found at elevations up to 1,800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 36°c. The plant can be damaged or killed if temperatures drop to 5°c for any prolonged period of time, and is killed by even a short period at 0°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 550 - 3,500mm
Plants can tolerate full sun to fairly dark shade[

309

]. Prefers a light, well-drained, humus-rich soil that is on the acid side Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 8, tolerating 3.5 - 9[

418

]. Established plants are very drought tolerant
Commercial cultivation is largely limited to latitudes between 25°S - 25°N, but it can also be found to 33°S
Fruits tend to be smaller and less sweet when grown at higher elevations and most pineapples are grown near the sea in areas with a high atmospheric humidity often on hill slopes
The plant requires 11 - 36 months from planting until the first crop of fruit. When grown commercially, the plant has an economic life of just 2 - 3 years, though the plant may continue to live and fruit for over 50 years
The optimum yield is 60 - 80 tonnes/ha for the first harvest; the first ratoon crop yields approximately 10% less; the second ratoon crop 30% less
A shallow-rooted plant
Individual plants are self-sterile, but sexual fertilization is unnecessary because fruit is produced parthenocarpically
There are many named varieties

Propogation:

Seed - cultivars do not breed true and so seed production is usually restricted to the search for new cultivars.
Crowns (leafy clumps atop mature fruits). Remove the leafy crown by twisting or cutting, remove any remaining yellow fruit attached to the crown then dry it for one or two days. Place the crown in a moist potting soil mix or in water until roots appear
Stem cuttings made after fruiting. Remove the leaves from the stems, and cut into pieces or lay intact in trays, covering with 2cm of rooting mediumGive bottom heat at around 20 - 27°c until roots are formed
Lateral shoots

Harvesting:

Pineapples may be cultivated from the offset produced at the top of the fruit,possibly flowering in five to ten months and fruiting in the following six months.Pineapples do not ripen significantly after harvest

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