The effect of size of planting materials on the growth, yield, and fruit quality of pineapple cv Gandul grown on deep peat soil in the humid tropics of Malaysia

A study was carried out to determine the effect of the size of planting materials on the growth, yield and fruit quality of a canning pineapple variety (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr., cv 'Gandul') when grown on deep pear soil in the humid tropics of Malaysia. The experimental area was located at the Integrated Feat Research Station, Pontian, Johore, from June 1991 to September 1992. Five different sizes of ground suckers were used : 30cm long (116.21g fresh weight), 45cm (226.34g), 60cm (339.31g), 45cm cut to 30cm (184.47g), and 60cm cut to 45cm (305.68g). Crops were grown in a high density planting system with double rows orientation of 61,508 plants par ha. Results of the experiment showed that the rate of plant growth was positively correlated to the fresh weight of the planting materials. The mean fruit weight harvested from the lightest weight of planting materials was 1.32 kg whereas those harvested from the heaviest treatment weighed 1.60 kg, an increase of about 21 percent. Fruit quality was not affected by the size of planting materials. It was concluded that the potential yield of pineapple cv 'Gandul' from the plant crop could be increased from about 81.4 tons to 99.2 tons by using a bigger planting material of about 340g instead of 120g.