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Living up to its reputation for optimal weather conditions, the first week of

September brought just the right combination of precipitation and sunshine to

our little slice of paradise in Costa Rica.

The week’s low rainfall and hot temperatures favored high brix development –

meaning excellent quality levels for our customers and sweeter, firmer

pineapples for processors.

Drier weeks ahead will allow for field work, soil preparation and planting to

resume at budgeted levels. Volume is also expected to begin increasing to

normal production levels into the first week of October.

Welcome September!

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– Rain: Week 14 brought moderate rainfall concentrated towards the weekend, with showers of moderate intensity. The total cumulative rainfall was 17.2 mm (0.68 inches).

– Temperature: The average minimum temperature during the week reached 21°C (69.8°F) – slightly lower than last week and we had two nights with temperatures below 20°C (68°F). The average temperature reached 26.2°C (79.2°F) and the average soil temperature was almost identical to last week at 26.8°C (80.3°F). Solar radiation was very intense most of the week, while the average relative humidity stayed identical to the last two weeks at 79.8%.

– Observations: April has started with some rainfall – a positive trend after the long period of low precipitation. The dry period and low night-temperatures have delayed the development of the fruit, driving the increase in harvest age which is underway. We plan to have 100% of the fruit at 22 WAF by Easter, and some areas may even increase to 23 WAF if necessary. While we have not completed our inventory of NDF, we continue to see significantly less naturally induced plants than prior year.

– Rain: Week 13 brought an accumulated rainfall of 44.4 mm (1 3/4 inches) and it was very well distributed throughout the week – a positive climatic change after the prolonged drier-than-normal period.

– Temperature: The average minimum temperature during the week rose to 21.3°C (70.3°F) – 0.9°C higher than last week, and nights with temperatures below 20°C (68°F) were not reported. The average temperature reached 26.1°C (79°F) and the average soil temperature was identical to last week – 26.7°C (80.1°F). Solar radiation was moderate during the first half of the week but became high to very high the rest of the week. Average relative humidity remained identical to last week at 79.8%.
– Observations: So far March has been the driest month of the New Year! Fortunately, during the last week of the month we had some rain that broke the four consecutive weeks of limited precipitation. One of the fruit characteristics most affected by the lack of water is the external color, which we expect to improve in the coming weeks as more precipitation is expected and the increase of harvest age is already in process. The increase in air temperatures is also expected to help achieve a better external color and maintain the other fruit quality characteristic at a desirable level.

– Rain: For the whole week we had a total of 7.6 mm (0.30 inches) of accumulated rainfall, another relatively dry week! We are now beginning to be concerned about a prolonged drought!

– Temperature: The average minimum temperature during the week reached 20.4°C (68.7°F) but this average hides the fact that we had three nights with minimum temperatures below 20°C (68°F) and even one that only reached 18.8°C! So far this was the second coolest night of the year. The average temperature reached 25.8°C (78.4°F) and the average soil temperature was 26.7°C (80.1°F). Solar radiation was lower than during week 11 as we saw more cloud cover, while the average relative humidity increased slightly to 79.8 %.

– Observations: March – In like a lion, out like a lamb is what we are expecting – a gradual increase in the average minimum temperatures over the coming weeks. On the other hand, we have no recollection of having such a prolonged dry spell during this time of the year. The inventory of natural fruit that we have identified is significantly less than prior years – but we cannot say we are out of the woods yet as the low temperatures of the previous weeks coupled with the almost drought-like conditions may bring on stress to plants near forcing-age and trigger natural flowering – a situation we will not be able to ascertain until 4 to 6 weeks from now. What is becoming evident is that volumes will drop post Easter given the fact that there is little natural fruit to fill in the gap created by the farm practices of minimizing the volume of plants exposed to the cold and wet stress of late December/early January. If Oscar were a betting man he would probably predict that if we have an NDF peak this year it will be much later than prior years – late June and July.

– Rain: This is the fourth straight week with very dry weather and cool nights! The accumulated precipitation of only 2.6 mm (tenth of an inch) with very light drizzles was well distributed throughout the week.

– Temperature: Air and soil temperatures continued very similar to prior weeks. The minimum reached 20.4°C (68.7°F) and we had three nights in a row with temperatures below 20°C (68°F). The average temperature was 52.9°C (78.3°F). Soil temperature came in identical to last week – 26.7°C (80.1°F) due to the low precipitation. Solar radiation was extremely intense during the week while the average relative humidity was very low, a rather infrequent occurrence in our tropical climate (77.4 %).
– Observations: Our climatic variables continue to be the focus of our attention. We have recorded significantly lower than normal precipitation during the first 3 months of the year – a positive development with regards to NDF! On the other hand, we have had low night-temperatures for a longer period and more consecutive days than usual; we anticipate that the onset of the dry season will bring an increase in night temperatures. The natural fruit inventoried so far has been low in relation to previous years; however the low night temperatures recorded during the last few weeks could bring a spike in NDF volumes. The industry in general has been reporting low levels of NDF and we will only be certain when we inventory fields that could have been impacted by the cold fronts of the last few weeks.

– Rain: An even drier week turned out with only 2.6 mm, rather negligible precipitation. Is the dry season here yet?

– Temperature: The minimum reached 20.2°C (68.4°F) – 0.7°C lower than previous week and of some concern because of the fact that we had three nights with temperatures below 20°C (68°F). The average temperature registered 25.7°C (78.3°F). Soil temperature measured slightly higher than last week – 26.7 C (80°F) due to the low precipitation. Solar radiation continued very intense during most of the week, and while there was no data available for relative humidity we can imagine it to be rather low!

– Observations: The dry spell and low temperatures undoubtedly are having an impact on plant and fruit growth – hence our intention to increase harvest age to maintain internal quality conditions (brix, maturity, translucency and of course flavor and aroma). It is not unprecedented that during this time of the year we harvest fruit at 22 and even 23 WAF. Although we didn’t have any precipitation this week we could have had an NDF event due to the following factors: the average temperature was very low, the minimum temperature was below 68°F during a few nights, and the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures was quite high. All of these situations cause stress to the plants.

– Rain: Another dry week with only 11.4 mm (half an inch) well distributed throughout the week – almost a repeat of the prior week.

– Temperature: The minimum reached 20.9°C (69.6°F) – 1.3°C higher than previous week, but we still had two days with night temperatures below 20°C (68°F). The average temperature also rose to 25.9°C (77.2°F) – 0.8°C higher than during week 8. Soil temperatures were almost identical to last week – 26.2°C (79.2°F) in part due to the low precipitation. Solar radiation continues to be intense during most of the week; the white kaolinite clay “Surround” is being applied continuously as sunscreen!

– Observations: Very low precipitation and an increase in air temperatures characterized week 9. Although the risk of NDF persists with a few nights measuring minimum temperatures that dropped below 20°C, we can safely assume that stress-causing conditions have decreased from prior weeks. Traditionally March brings the transition to warmer days and lower precipitation – what we commonly call the “dry season”, although this year it seems to have started way earlier! The quality and consistency of our fruit is improving; we continue to monitor and place ribbons on NDF fruit but the events that are being inventoried now are showing very low incidence of natural fruit.