Garlic Yields

Results

Mean Weight of Bulbs (g)
Area (cm²)	250	306	373	455	555	677	826	1008	1230	1501
Fan 1	132	122	123	123	144	128	132	165	156	155
Fan 2	140	120	136	130	126	170	173	176	165	163
Mean of Fans 1 & 2	136	121	130	127	135	149	152	170	161	159
Yield (kg/m²⁾
Fan 1	5.27	3.98	3.31	2.70	2.59	1.89	1.59	1.63	1.26	1.03
Fan 2	5.57	3.93	3.64	2.86	2.27	2.52	2.09	1.74	1.34	1.08
Mean of Fans 1 & 2	5.42	3.96	3.48	2.78	2.43	2.21	1.84	1.69	1.30	1.06

Since 90 of the 340 recorded plants in the trial were missing at harvest, results must be treated with caution and no SED’s are given.

Mean weight of bulbs:
Bulb weight, although very variable, tended to increase as plant spacing increased. There is little relationship between bulb weight and area, which did not improve after correcting for missing plants. This suggests that in this trial, area was not seriously limiting growth of the bulbs.
Yield per unit area:
Yield decreased with increasing area per bulb. The graph below shows that in this trial maximum yield was not achieved.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that plant spacing currently in use (normally approximately 300 x 150 mm or greater) is one of the factors limiting yield. The mean bulb weight achieved at the closest spacing was comparatively large by commercial standards. This suggests that the cloves could be planted considerably closer together to increase yield without reducing bulb size too much.
Future trials will concentrate on determining optimum plant population regarding yield, bulb size and field planting arrangement. It is hoped the problem of missing plants will be overcome by commencing the trial in 38 mm blocks and only planting those that shoot.

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