Effectiveness and economic impact of weed control systems in organic garlic production

Susan Fluegel, Grey Duck Garlic

Gourmet garlic is growing in popularity, but is difficult to grow because its size and yield are very susceptible to weed growth. In this study it was found that solarization, though effective against weeds, decreased the size of garlic bulbs by 5.5 percent and decreased yield by 10 percent compared to garlic in stale seedbeds. On average, there was no difference in time or garlic yield in hand versus flame weeding, though flame weeding was three times more expensive. Overall, a combination of a stale seedbed and then hand weeding is the most effective weed control method for garlic.

Region

Western

Topic

Weed Management

Category

Vegetables/Fruits

Date Range

2001-2010

Funding Amount

$10,362

Funding Year

2008

Location

Colfax, Washington

Collaborators

Jane Fluegel, Patty Fluegel, Edna Hastain, Chris Bailey

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