»How to Grow a Pineapple – Pineapple Plant Business Ideas with Small Capital«
Pineapple is a fruit with lots of economic importance. Aside from being eaten as raw fruit either ordinary or making salad or fruit cocktails, pineapple is a good foreign exchange earner.
Pineapple can be processed into juice, jam, vinegar, preserves and candy. Its leaves are a source of remarkable strong fibre that can be processed into clothes. Currently the pineapple fruit is the third most important commercial tropical fruit crop after banana and citrus. Smooth cayenne is the most favourite cultivars for canning and fresh fruit consumption. It matures in 18 months and yields 25,000 fruits per hectare. Pineapple requires relatively uniform temperature through out the year and evenly distributed rainfall when growing.
Pineapple planting
Pineapple grows best in elevations of 150-240m in well drained soil with a PH of 4.5 – 5.5. Plant suckers and slips 8- 10cm deep, 25- 30cm in row and 80- 100cm between rows.
Adequate nitrogen fertilizer mix will make plants grow vigorously and produce large fruits. Potassium increase fruit size and sweetness. Pineapple will require little phosphorous since soils have it.
Weeding
Hand pulling and hoeing with aid of suitable implements are the most common methods of weed control. Weeds can be used as mulch covering to conserve moisture and add organic matter to the soil. Do not use herbicides that may be toxic to crops crown and the environment.
Mealy bug is a common pest found on the surface of the pineapple leaf as swell as inside the enclosed blossom caps. It can be controlled by spraying insecticide in the morning or evening.
Harvesting
Control of nematodes is necessary because they hinder growth of pineapple. Under natural condition, pineapples have been harvested between late April to August.
The fruits actually ripens about 5 months after flowering. From planting to harvesting it can take 19 to 20 months but induced ones can take 14 to 16 months.
