Yield and quality of vernalized garlic as affected by nitrogen rates

Abstract

Two experiments were carried out, one in a protected environment and another in the field, aiming to evaluate the effect of nitrogen doses on yield and commercial characteristics in the vernalized garlic culture, Roxo Pérola Caçador cv. A randomized complete block design was adopted, with seven nitrogen doses (0, 20, 40, 60, 20, 240, and 360 kg ha-) and four replications. The nitrogen doses were applied in top dressing at 30 and 50 days after seedling emergence (DAE). The production of bulbs data, the percentage of secondary growth bulbs, the bulb formation index and classification according to the size were obtained. The total production of bulbs was not influenced by the doses of nitrogen. However, the percentage of secondary growth bulbs showed a linear increase with increasing doses of N. In the experiment under protected environment there was no incidence of secondary growth plants and the total production of bulbs was influenced by nitrogen doses: the highest production resulted from the 50 Kg ha¹ dose of nitrogen. Most of the bulbs were classified between 3 and 4, reaching a maximum diameter of 42 mm. Additional keywords: Allium sativum L., secondary growth bulbs, bulb yield, nitrogen fertilization.