FORCING OF ‘TAINON17’ PINEAPPLE WITH CALCIUM CARBIDE (CAC₂) AND/OR ICE-COLD STRESS UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS

Calcium carbide (CaC₂) has been used for large scale induction of reproductive development in pineapple.
Over-application of CaC₂ to ensure synchronized flowering in pineapples grown for fresh markets may increase the cost of forcing and contaminants in CaC₂ may harm human health.
The forcing effectiveness of CaC₂ prepared with ice-cold water was compared with that of CaC₂ prepared in tap (25°C) water in ‘Tainon 17’ pineapple plants.
Two applications of ice-cold aqueous CaC₂ solution applied at a 48 h interval forced a significantly higher percentage of plants than did CaC₂ solution prepared using tap water at 25°C. At 70 days after treatment, plants treated with the ice-water solution had completed inflorescence emergence while plants treated with the tap water solution had reached 50% inflorescence emergence.
The use of an ice-cold aqueous CaC₂ solution could reduce the number of CaC₂ applications required to force pineapple and would also reduce the cost of forcing.
In another field experiment (2008-2009 season), a test was installed to determine if cold stress alone, an organic treatment, would induce reproductive development of ‘Tainon 17’ plants.
Plants treated 3-4 times with ice-cold water or ice crystals were not induced by cold stress on days having a mean night temperature of 25°C or above.
Cold stress might be more effective in forcing pineapple when night temperatures are cooler but further experiments are required to evaluate the effect of cooler temperature on the forcing efficiency of ice treatments.

VII International Pineapple Symposium

J.C. Chang, S. Maruthasalam, Y.L. Liu, C.M. Sun, W.S. Shih, P.F. Lee, C.H. Lin

calcium carbide, inflorescence emergence, ice-cold stress, pineapple

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.902.37