Response of the garlic (<em>Allium sativum</em> L.) to the gypsum, stable manure and borax application

Abstract

This paper had the objective to evaluate the use of gypsum, stable manure and borax in the yield garlic, cateto roxo cultivar. The experiment was conducted in an alluvial soil, at Epamig Experimental Farm, in São Sebastião do Paraíso (MG), in a design of randomized blocks, in the (4x2x2) factorial scheme, with three replications. Four gypsum doses (G0 = 0; G1 = 500; G2 = 1,000 and G3 = 2,000 kg ha^-1), two stable manure doses (E0 = 0 and E1 = 20t ha^-1) and two borax doses (B0 = 0 and B1 = 15 kg ha^-1) were evaluated, using gypsum only in 1994 and the other treatments in 1994 and 1995. The garlic bulbs were harvested and stored for 20 days, being obtained the total and commercial weight of bulbs, according to size classification; for each rate, the medium diameter in weight (MDW) was also calculated. In the treatment that received stable manure, gypsum interfered negatively in the garlic yield, in the year of application (1994), with residual effect on the subsequent year (1995). It affected the decomposion processes of the stable manure, reflecting in B liberation. The maximum yields were obtained in the absence of the treatments in 1994 (7,347 kg ha^-1) and in the presence stable manure and borax, for the zero dose of gypsum, in the year of 1995 (7359 kg ha^-1). The medium diameter in weight of bulbs (MDW), for 1994 wasn’t affected significantly by the treatments. However to 1995, there was a highly significant effect of the stable manure. In its presence and absence MDW was of 36.2 mm and 35.0 mm, respectively. The gypsum use generally presented negative effects in garlic yield, interfering in B dynamics; howerer the use of stable manure attenuated these effects without eliminating them. In 1995, stable manure provided a larger amount in bulbs weight in the classes with larger diameter, interfering positively in their classification