Climate caused mass natural flowering event hits QLD Pineapple crop.

[pagnr]

Pineapples are well suited to dry conditions and have evolved to flower annually, often in response to a stressor such as low temperatures or drought however this year it seems the unseasonal warm weather (about 4 degrees warmer than usual) combined with double the average monthly rainfall has triggered a mass natural flowering event, predominantly, but not exclusively, in the SEQ area.

Natural flowering is as its name indicates a ‘usual’ annual natural flowering. On any one year it accounts for approximately 10% of a crop. This year growers are reporting between 60% and 80% of their crop has flowered.

When a natural flowering occurs, as it has in this case, plants are 5-6 months immature which results in small sized, unsaleable fruit.

excerpt from here
https://www.growcom.com.au/2022/11/15/natural-flowering-not-so-natural-for-growers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=natural-flowering-not-so-natural-for-growers

[1rainman]

In south Florida pineapples grow well. Seldom fruit maybe one or two out of a large number will have a pineapple. They are always good size but I can never tell when it's fully ripe. But the racoons can tell and will steal it. More for decoration here than food. Maybe it's the lack of stressors though they do die back during the occasional freeze it doesn't help with fruiting. We get massive summer rain too.

[FloridaGrower69]

That’s super interesting.

I know many farms force flowering for harvest efficiency, but having the whole crop push fruit at once cant be a good thing. Law of supply and demand.