Despite its numerous advantages, garlic chives (Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Sprengel) remains a species that is little known of and therefore underestimated in Poland. Cultivation requirements of garlic chives in the climatic conditions of West Pomerania have long been studied at the Department of Horticulture, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. An example of such research is the experiment, conducted in 2007-2009, whose aim was to determine the effect of blanching two-year old garlic chives plants on the yield of dry matter and the macro- and micronutrient content. Control plants were non-blanched, two-year old plants. Each year, on 10th April, the seeds were sown directly in a field, 5 seeds per point, 30 x 20 cm apart. The plants were blanched by being covered with low plastic tunnels coated with one or two layers of black nonwoven polypropylene fabric. Blanched leaves were collected 4 weeks after installing the tunnels. Field experiments were established and carried out at the Vegetable Research Station in Dołuje (near Szczecin), and chemical analyses were performed at the Regional Chemical and Agricultural Station in Szczecin. The highest content of phosphorus and total nitrogen was found in the leaves blanched under a double layer of nonwoven fabric, as compared to non-blanched plants. An opposite trend was observed for potassium and calcium. The highest content of these macronutrients was noticed in non-blanched leaves of garlic chives. No significant effect of blanching was found regarding the leaf content of magnesium and sulphur. The highest level of copper was reported in non-blanched leaves, and the leaves covered with a double layer of nonwoven fabric were the richest in iron. The lowest content of zinc was found in the leaves blanched under one layer and the lowest level of manganese in those blanched under two layers of black nonwoven fabric.

20(4)2015