Impact of low-temperature transplant treatment on yield and quality of cauliflower curds in late spring production

• Exposing transplants to low temperature had long-term effects on cauliflower.
• We induced transplant acclimation through controlled low temperature treatment.
• Cauliflower yield was increased due to low temperature treatment of transplants.
• Lowering temperature before planting slightly affects physiological defects of curds.
• We proposed simple regression yield-weather model for cauliflower.

Abiotic stresses elicit complex responses of plants at the physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular levels, leading to acclimation to adverse conditions. Exposing young plants to abiotic stress (e.g., by lowering the temperature below optimum) provides an improvement of tolerance to further stress. It may also unlock yield potential of temperate-climate crops. Therefore, a study was initiated to investigate the effects of low, non-freezing temperature treatments (6, 10, 14, and 18 °C [control]) applied to cauliflower transplants for 1 or 2 wk before planting on subsequent crop yield and quality parameters of the curds. Yield analysis confirmed that plants pretreated with lower temperatures exhibited higher marketable yields. A low temperature of 6 °C, maintained for both 1 and 2 wk, resulted in a significant increase in yield, of 6.8 and 7.8%, respectively, compared to the controls. Low-temperature treatments affected mass of the curds and slightly increased numbers of curds with better commercial quality. Cauliflower plants exhibited significantly higher curd diameter in comparison to controls when plants were subjected to 6 °C for 1 wk. The occurrence of fuzziness, riciness, and browning of mature curds of cauliflower was not influenced by stress application. The results suggested that controlled, low-temperature treatment of cauliflower transplants could play an important role in enhancing tolerance to field conditions and could offer an opportunity to improve yield of cauliflower grown in the field.