Rest and dormancy in garlic

Garlic bulbs, both for food and for replanting, are commonly held in storage for many months. If they are planted immediately after harvest, the bulbs do not produce either roots or sprouts, and may be said to be in a state of rest. The rest decreases with time, but the rate of decrease is markedly affected by the temperature at which the bulbs are held. Experiments to determine how length and temperature of storage affect rest in garlic are described in the present paper. Garlic bulbs were held at a series of temperatures for different lengths of time, and were then planted, again at several temperatures, to determine how quickly they would root or sprout. The results indicate how storage temperature, length of storage, and soil temperature affect the ability of garlic cloves to root and sprout. Production of carbon dioxide by bulbs stored at different temperatures was also determined. These results are compared with similar reports in the literature for other crops, such as potato and onion. Storage temperature is also known to have a marked effect on the quality of garlic grown from stored bulbs. This aspect of storage is not covered in this paper, and recommendations for storage of bulbs to be used for planting are not made.