ABSTRACT

The ‘BRS Imperial’ pineapple is a resistant cultivar to Fusarium, with leaves without thorns, but it requires a specific technical information for its management. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different levels of N and K2O on vegetative growth, flowering and in the attributes of ‘D’ leaf development of ‘BRS Imperial’ pineapple, in order to determinate the plant parameters to induce artificial flowering. In a complete randomized block design with five replications, we tested four N (0, 160, 320, 550 kg ha-1) and four K2O (0, 240, 480 and 600 kg ha-1) levels, in a complete factorial 4 x 4. Potassium fertilization positively influenced in fresh mass and plant length, as well as the number of slip per plant; while the nitrogen fertilization influenced the leaf emergence and fresh mass of slip. Nitrogen fertilization decreased the artificially induced flowering, while potassium increased the flowering rate. The maximum mass of the ‘D’ leaf was estimated at 56 g, in the dose of 364 kg N ha-1 and higher dose of potassium fertilizer (600 kg ha-1 K2O). The mass of ‘D’ leaf showed the best correlation with fruit mass and estimated the minimum mass of 44 g to obtain 900 g of fruit, the minimum mass required by the market for sale.

Index terms
Ananas comosus var. comosus; pineapple; vegetative development; ‘D’ leaf; plant nutrition