Effects of mulch on growth and yield of garlic bulbils at various fertilizing doses

Abstract

Abstract Climate change hurts garlic cultivation. Appropriate technology needs to be created to get good quality tubers, one of them using bulbils. Bulbils are tubers formed from other parts of a plant. In garlic, bulbil grows at the stem, with very small embryo size hence it is necessary to control the environmental conditions in the nurseries. The study aimed to examine the garlic cultivation model using tubers with mulch treatment and a combination of fertilization. Sealing and mulching were conducted to avoid direct solar heat and to control the soil microclimate, respectively. The study used a split-plot design consisting of main plots with mulching and without mulching. The sub-plots were by applying the combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers at several levels, namely: Farmer Recommendation/P1 (50% Organic + 100% Inorganic), P2 (75% Organic + 25% Inorganic), P3 (50% Organic + 50% Inorganic), P4 (25% Organic + 75% Inorganic) and P5 (100% Organic). The results showed there are interactions between mulching and a combination of fertilizers on plant height and root length. Mulch application can stabilize soil temperature and provide better results on growth and yield, but the combination treatment of fertilization has no significant effects on growth variables and yields.