ASHS 2024 Conference

Assessing the impact of cultivar on garlic growth and yield ensures satisfactory productivity and better management of genetic resources for growers in North Dakota. A field experiment was conducted at the NDSU Horticulture Research Farm, located near Absaraka, ND to evaluate the effect of cultivar on the growth and yield of garlic. Twenty-nine garlic cultivars were arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 4 replications. The leaf number, bulb diameter, bulb weight, scape weight and length were recorded throughout the growing season. The results showed significant differences between cultivars for all the variables evaluated. The highest bulb diameter(60.5 cm) was recorded in ‘German White’, while the lowest diameter (38.9 cm) was recorded in ‘German Red’. The highest bulb weight(73.4 g) was with ‘German White’ while ‘Italian Loiacono’ resulted in the lowest bulb weight(21.2 g).The number of leaves was recorded at 30, 45, 60, and 80 days after sprouting (DAS). The average number of leaves was similar for all cultivars until 60 DAS when ‘Ukrainian Red’ had the highest number of leaves (11) and ‘German Red’ had the fewest leaves (7). ‘Dakota White’ produced the longest scapes while ‘Italian Loiacono’ and ‘White Spring’ did not produce any scapes. ‘German White’ recorded the heaviest scapes (13.8 g). In conclusion garlic cultivar affected the growth and yield when grown under North Dakota environmental conditions. ‘German White’ appeared to be the most adapted to North Dakota environmental conditions while ‘Italian Loiacono’ and ‘German Red’ were the least adapted.