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Relationship Between Deformed-Fruit Disease of Papaya and Boron Deficiency. Der- Nan Wang, Fengshan Tropical Horticultural Experiment Station, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute, Fengshan, Taiwan; W. H. Ko, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Hawaii, Beaumont Agricultural Research Center, Hilo 96720. Phytopathology 65:445-447. Accepted for publication 6 November 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-65-445.

Leaf samples collected from papaya trees with deformed fruits contained only about one-fourth as much boron as the leaves of healthy trees. Tomato and lettuce grown in soils collected from diseased fields developed typical boron deficiency symptoms. The disease was controlled by spraying leaves of diseased trees with 0.25% borax or boric acid solution, or by applying 0.5 g borax around a diseased tree. Results indicate that this deformed-fruit disease of papaya is caused by boron deficiency.