Try and Ask Anee Ask one farming question for free

Free farm guides

Crop guides Palay, mais, gulay, coconut, banana How to plant Every crop, step by step Crop varieties Rice, corn, vegetables, fruit trees Land preparation Per crop and per soil Crop pests Insects, kuhol, rats and birds Crop diseases Fungi, bacteria and viruses Weeds and grasses Grasses, sedges and broadleaves Nutrients What each one does, crop by crop Nutrient deficiencies Yellow leaves and their fertilizer Latest in Agriculture Farm news, prices, fertilizer, farm words
Where you farm
International versionClosed for maintenance. It will open again soon.
Log In Get Started
Sugarcane and Industrial Crops Not sure it is this disease? Use the Disease Finder in anee.io ›

Heart rot and root rot of pineapple

The young leaves in the center turn yellow brown, rot at the base and pull out easily with a foul smell.

Phytophthora cinnamomi, Phytophthora nicotianae Water mold Fact sheet
Heart rot of pineapple: the center of the plant rotting and its leaves pulling free
Photo: Scot Nelson from Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Crops it strikes

Pinya Pineapple

What you see

RottingWiltingYellowing

When to act

After heavy rains, walk drains and low spots every week and tug the center leaves of any yellowing plant. If they pull out with a foul rot, treat that block. In wet seasons, dip planting material before planting, and protect young plants after long rains where heart rot struck before.

What to spray

Active ingredients only, never brands. The FRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the disease does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.

Resistance: Phytophthora quickly resists metalaxyl (group 4) used alone. Alternate it with the phosphonates (fosetyl aluminium, phosphorous acid) or group 40, and prefer the mixes with mancozeb to metalaxyl alone.

On labels for it, but not advised

  • Carbendazim and prochloraz: Works on true fungi, not on the water mold behind this heart rot.
  • Sulfur: A mite and mildew product. It does not stop Phytophthora.
  • Oxytetracycline: An antibiotic for the bacterial heart rot. It does nothing to Phytophthora.
  • Plant essential oil: A plant oil blend with no clear proof against Phytophthora.

How to prevent it

  • Plant on raised beds with good drainage, and keep out of low spots that flood.
  • Use healthy crowns and slips, cure them in the shade first, and do not bruise them.
  • Do not plant too deep, and keep rain from splashing soil into the hearts.
  • Do not lime above the low soil pH pineapple likes. A higher pH favors heart rot.
  • Pull out and destroy rotted plants, and fix the drainage before replanting the spot.

Natural enemies and biological help

  • Trichoderma added to the planting hole or with compost helps hold Phytophthora down.

Not sure it is this one?

Many diseases look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.

Meet Anee