Improving the efficiency of flower induction in pineapple
1990
Suba Heenkenda, H.M.
No interaction was observed among all the factors tested for inflorescence initiation. Ethephon at 240 ppm alone and 25 ppm + 2% urea with or without pH adjustment were equally effective in initiating reproductive development 45 days after treatment. Ethephon at 240 ppm and applied at 4:00 p.m. was the most effective treatment while CaC2 was the least effective flower inducer 52 days after flower induction. The N content of the D leaf was independent of the flower inducer. Urea increased N level in the D leaf. At 3 and 6 weeks after treatment N was highest and lowest, respectively. There was no general relationship between the degree of opening of the last three leaves soon before flowering and the number of days to flower. The degree of opening of the second to the last leaf of the plants treated with 240 ppm ethephon + 2% urea applied at 7:00 a.m. had a strong correlation (R to the second power = 0.548) with the number of days to flower. Ethephon at 25 ppm alone and CaC2 failed to force the plants until 134 days after treatment. Efficiency of ethephon was improved by the combination of 2% urea (pH 9.0) and applied at 4:00 p.m. Ethephon at 240 and 25 ppm + 2% urea (pH 9.0) applied at 4:00 p.m. had a similar effect on percentage of flowering (88.87%) but flowering of the former took a longer time. The best and least effective time for flower induction was at 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m., respectively. Bad weather conditions delayed flowering. Urea addition, pH adjustment and time of application collectively improved the efficiency of ethephon, despite the extreme weather conditions. The improvement lowered the dose of ethephon by ten times
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