An experiment was conducted under field conditions with the objective of studying differences on nutrient uptake and dry matter accumulation, between garlic plants produced from cloves obtained by tissue culture and plants originated from cloves produced directly in the field. A randomized block design with four replications was used in the split-plot scheme. The treatments consisted of garlic plants obtained from tissue culture (meristem-tip culture) and from cloves produced in the field, evaluated 30, 50, 70, 90, 110, 130, and 150 days after planting. At each period, six plants/plot were collected and dry matter of both aerial part and bulb were evaluated. Accumulated amounts of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in the garlic plants were also determined. In general, the amount of nutrient uptake corresponded to the development of the plants in both propagation system. Nutrient uptake was more intense between 70 and 110 days in the aerial part of the plants, and 90 and 150 days in the bulb. Differences in nutrient uptake between these two multiplication systems were verified only at the maximum development of both aerial and bulb portions. Plants originated from field propagation required more nitrogen than potassium when compared to those previously propagated by tissue culture. Plants originated from tissue culture accumulated more nutrients than those obtained from cloves produced directty on the field. These differences in nutrient accumulation were observed at the harvesting time and were expressed as percentage: Ca - 83.2%, K - 77.8%, S - 70.0%, Mg - 62.7%, P - 55.5%, N - 16.0%, Fe - 116.6%, Mn - 94.5%, Cu - 64.7%, Zn - 62.7%, B - 57.3%.
Allium sativum L.; "in vitro" multiplication; growth; mineral nutrition
