Blindness in Early Summer Cauliflower

Abstract

WIEBOSCH et al. 1 distinguished two forms of blindness in cauliflowers, namely, common blindness, where there is a sudden transition from normal development to complete blindness, and ‘whiptail’ (not due to molybdenum deficiency), where the leaves are malformed and small swollen ‘stem organs’ are produced in the centre of the plant. These workers suggested that both forms of blindness may be caused by a period of low temperature during the early stages of growth. A similar suggestion has been made by Smith2. Recently, Mounsey-Wood3 found that blindness was associated with frost during the early growth of the crop, and suggested that low temperature when the seedlings were at a certain stage of development was likely to cause blindness. Evidence supporting this hypothesis has now been obtained at this Station.