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
2008Location
Colfax, Washington
Collaborators
Jane Fluegel, Patty Fluegel, Edna Hastain, Chris Bailey