Organic Pineapple Working Group

[Organic Pineapple Working Group <opwg AT lists.ibiblio.org>]

Dear Colleagues:

A grower in Florida who grows pineapples in a greenhouse recently wrote and asked about cracking of the fruit stem (peduncle; see the symptom shown in the attached photos). The grower wrote:

"The penduncle seems to crack or split on one side about 3 inches down from the fruit. The plant doesn't seem to have any other issues, but the fruit doesn't grow uniformly because of this crack."

I believe the name of the variety is unknown but was referred to as a white pineapple and obviously is a smooth-leafed variety. The grower also noted that the symptom was not observed on MD-2 or CO-2 (72-50) grown under the same conditions.

I have only seen a similar symptom once while visiting the MARDI research station in Malaysia. On at least two plants of a Taiwan hybrid between Queen and Smooth Cayenne, the peduncle was cracked about half way through just below the fruit. No other Singapore Spanish or Smooth Cayenne plants in the area were similarly affected.

I am wondering if anyone else has seen anything similar to the symptom shown in the two photos and if it has been associated with any cause.

Thanks for your kind attention and assistance.

Best regards,
Duane

-- 
Duane P. Bartholomew, PhD
Emeritus Professor
Dept. Tropical Plant & Soil Science
Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
3190 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822
Find Pineapple News at http://www.ishs.org/pineapple

Attachment: IMG_0620 - Peduncle cracking Florida.JPG
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Attachment: IMG_0621 - peduncle cracking Florida.JPG
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