Garlic experiment conjures memories of chemistry class

I love a good garden experiment Everywhere you look in my garden you’ll see an experiment of sorts or the fruits of a past garden experiment.

These trials, which are always anecdotal and never anything that could be considered a true experiment in the scientific sense of the word, are often to see just how far I can push a plant to perform in the garden. The results are subjective and usually followed by an asterisk to account for the vast array of influences outside of my control.

So a garlic growing trial that I tried when planting last fall that had all the components of a proper experiment felt like a return to high school science, without the unflattering goggles or the looming fear of a semester-ending report card or sprint through the hallway to make it to a first-period chemistry class.

The experiment would test whether a fertilizer soak would lead to a bigger garlic harvest, a method promoted by some growers, including the Madison-based Keene Garlic that I (and, apparently, Martha Stewart) order seed garlic from each year. 

I divided my garlic into two groups. The experimental group followed the fertilizer soak protocol of breaking bulbs into cloves, sterilizing them in vodka, then soaking them in a fish emulsion solution with a teaspoon of baking soda overnight. The control group got no special treatment.

All of the cloves were planted in the same raised bed, at the same depth — about 3 inches — and with the same 7 to 8-inch spacing. In order to preserve the integrity of this highly scientific experiment, before planting I measured out the same amount of fertilizer — garlic is a heavy feeder — for each side of the raised bed. 

From then on, both groups received the same treatment, including a few inches of mulch for winter, additional fertilizer in spring, removal of the flower scapes and regular water via drip irrigation on a timer.

When harvest time came a few weeks later than usual, I was ready with scale, but I didn’t really need it — the results were clear. Although the biggest bulbs were in the experimental group, so were the smallest bulbs, and on average the soaked garlic was smaller. On top of that, I ended up with three fewer bulbs of soaked garlic than the control garlic.

And the scale told the same tale. The control group harvest weighed about 35% more than the experimental group.

Undoubtedly a true test of the method would require it being done on a bigger scale in multiple locations over multiple years, but it was enough to convince me that there’s no need to complicate a simple planting process. But if I’m being honest, I’ll admit that I’m a lazy enough gardener that I would have had to see a big difference in the soaked harvest to convince me to take the extra steps of the fertilization soak again.

I like to think my experiment would have earned me an A in high school, even if I was perpetually five minutes late to class.