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[Market-farming] PA Garlic Seed Foundation Roundtable
- From: "Alliums" <garlicgrower AT green-logic.com>
- To: <Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Cc:
- Subject: [Market-farming] PA Garlic Seed Foundation Roundtable
- Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:25:19 -0500
Hi, Folks!
I attened the PA Roundtable of the Garlic Seed Foundation yesterday with
David Stern. A collegue asked for the highlights and since I typed them up
for him, I thought I would share them with the rest of you.
Here are the highlights -- if you want details, just ask!
Growing Highlights:
*scapes should be removed ASAP -- leaving them on does not increase storage
time and will reduce bulb yield.
*Cut scapes at the heat of the day so that the wound will heal over in 15-20
minutes -- otherwise, it may drip for up to 24 hours.
*Garlic cooks at 121 degrees, garlic will not grow if the soil temperature
is at 91 degrees or above.
*Garlic produces fertile seed above 4,000 feet
*Luther Burbank created elephant garlic in 1919. It contains 50% sulfur
compounds and is excellent to treat arthritis
*There are 400 alliums species in North America, but none of them are garlic
*For good garlic weed control, plant carrots in the field (which you have to
weed well), then plant garlic in the fall after the carrots are harvested.
*In upstate New York, folks who don't mulch are planting oats over the
garlic -- the winterkilled oats keeps the soil from eroding.
*rounds result from lack of vernalization (ie, the garlic didn't get the 40
days at or below 40 degrees that it needs for the cloves to separate)
*17% yield reduction in bulb for each leaf damaged/removed
*Usual garlic harvest ratio for the Northeast is 1 pound in the ground, with
6 or 7 pounds at harvest.
*Foliar feeding is not particularly helpful as it is difficult to get the
product to stick to the garlic leaves -- most of it just drips off.
*Johnny's Select Seed doesn't find new garlic varieties; they just re-name
what they have to increase sales.
*Fulsarium is the big problem in the Northeast -- no one has a reliable test
or way to screen for it or to treat it once they have it besides removing
bad bulbs. Filaree managed to ship out a new, nastier fulsarium strain to
the Northeast on some of the seed garlic it sent out -- everyone is very
worried about disease.
*To combat fulsarium, folks are soaking their cloves in either a 10% bleach
solution or a 5% sodium hypercloride (I don't think I have the name of this
compound right -- it wasn't spelled and he said it really fast -- if anyone
else was there, please correct me on this), then rolling them in wood ashes,
then planting with gloves on. It appears to eliminate fulsarium that is on
the surface of a clove.
*White rot has come in from Asia, it's a huge problem on the West Coast and
no one knows what to do about it.
DNA Highlights
Dr. Gayle Volk did DNA fingerprinting on all 400 varieties in the USDA
collection. She found massive duplication and has her now-famous map of
garlic DNA.
There are now 10 major cultivars -- 8 hardnecks and 2 softnecks. Garlic
seed foundation members are planting the "Major 10" and will report which do
best where. There are others that are offshoots.
All Porcelain garlic has the same DNA -- Music is the same as German Extra
Hardy, etc.
The "garlic of origin" was a Purple Stripe.
More information can be requested from the Garlic Seed Foundation at
http://www.garlicseedfoundation.info/index.htm
Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth
A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460
Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth
A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460
- [Market-farming] PA Garlic Seed Foundation Roundtable, Alliums, 03/19/2005
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