2.1.2. Planting details
All plantings took place in the rainy season (August 2014)
using commercial cultural practices. Plantings were done by a
double-row system: with 120 cm spacing between each double-
row. Within the double-row, spacing of 60 × 30 cm was made
between rows and plants, respectively. NPK (16-16-16) and urea
(46-0-0) fertilizers were top-dressed one month after planting at
the rate of 313 kg/ha, then 14-14-21 was applied 750 kg/ha every
three months before maturity. The overall field temperature over
the year was 30–35 ◦ C during the day and 22–28 ◦ C at night. After
14 months of planting, pineapple plants were induced to flower by
spraying with 50 ppm ethephon and 2% (w/v) urea (approximately
80 mL/plant).