This experiment was carried out at Marília, São Paulo state, Brazil, to evaluate the effect of soil mulching and side dressing fertilization using nitrogen and potassium on a garlic clone, cultivar Gravatá, originated from tissue culture. The experimental design was randomized blocks, in factorial scheme 2 x 3 with four replications. N and K were applied twice using three periods 45 and 70; 60 and 80; 75 and 95 days after planting with and without mulching. The plant height, number of leaves per plant, bulb diameter and bulbing ratio were measured 105 days after planting. Higher diameters of bulb were obtained with N and K applied 45 and 65 or 60 and 80 days after planting with and without mulching application. Periods of N and K parceling did not have any effect on the evaluated traits. The use of soil mulch resulted in higher growth and yield of garlic obtained from tissue culture, reaching 16.76 t/ha with mulching and 13.44 t/ha without mulching.
Allium sativum L.; mulching; nitrogen; potassium; cover fertilization
