Simranjot Kaur1, Elio Jimenez2, Chris Laborde3 and Hardev Sandhu1
1University of Florida, IFAS, Everglades Research and Education Center, Belle Glade, FL, USA; hsandhu@ufl.edu
2Florida Crystals Corporation, Belle Glade, FL, USA
3U.S. Sugar Corporation, Clewiston, FL, USA
Most of the sugarcane in Florida is planted manually, but with increased labor shortages, sugarcane growers are exploring the possibilities of using mechanical planters such as billet planters to plant cane in Florida. However, the increased use of machines in the handling of seedcane imposes the risk of mechanical damage to the buds and the seedcane, which leads to the occurrence of skips and gaps resulting in poor germination and crop establishment, thus forcing growers to plant at higher densities to compensate for the losses. This study aimed at increasing the number of buds per unit billet length by reducing the internode length. The effect of different rates of trinexapac-ethyl, a growth retardant, were studied on reducing the internode length of two sugarcane cultivars (CP 96-1252 and CPCL 05-1201). A split-plot experiment was planted at two locations in the Everglades Agricultural Area during 2022-23 and 2023-24 planting seasons. The growth retardant significantly reduced the plant height and internode length after applications for both the cultivars, but the number of internodes per stalk remained unchanged between control and treatments. Despite the similar number of internodes, the reduced overall plant height in treated plants, yielded more buds per unit stalk length (18-24% for CP 96-1252 and 14% for CPCL 05-1201) than the control plants. The response to different rates of growth retardant was highly variable and influenced by factors such as cultivar, location, and environmental conditions. These results indicate that the growth retardants were effective in increasing the number of buds per unit billet length, but the effect varied with the cultivar and soil characteristics that needs further research.