Figure 1.
Monthly maximum and minimum air temperature under plastic tunnel in the three experimental years from September 2010 to December 2012.
Fig. 1 was drawn using the software program Sigmaplot 12 (Systat Software, Inc.).
Table 1.
Basic characteristics of original soil in the experiment.
Figure 2.
Three experimental treatments in autumn (A–C) and spring (D–F).
Fig. 2 was made by graphics software Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Adobe Systems, Inc.). Eggplant monocropping (CK, A and D), eggplant relay intercropping with normal garlic (NG, B and E), and eggplant relay intercropping with green garlic (GG, C and F).
Figure 3.
Diagram of three cropping systems in the experiment.
Fig. 3 was drawn using the software program AutoCAD 2012 (Autodesk Inc.). CK: eggplant monoculture; NG: eggplant relay intercropping with normal garlic cv. G110; GG: eggplant relay intercropping with green garlic cv. G064.
Table 2.
Field operations in the three years.
Table 3.
Soil sampling dates and corresponding eggplant/garlic growth stages in the three experimental years.
Figure 4.
Effects of relay intercropping eggplant with garlic on the activities of invertase (A), urease (B), and alkaline phosphatase (C) in soil from September 2010 to November 2012.
Fig. 4 was drawn using the software program Sigmaplot 12 (Systat Software, Inc.). CK: eggplant monoculture; NG: eggplant relay intercropping with normal garlic cv. G110; GG: eggplant relay intercropping with green garlic cv. G064 Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. The capital letters from A to G behind dates in the X-axis represent different periods of crop cycles in the experiment: A represents five days before eggplant transplanted in spring (garlic-only); B represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in spring; C represents eggplant-only stage; D represents five days before green garlic planted (eggplant-only); E represents several days before normal garlic planted; F represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in autumn; G represents several days before eggplant uprooted (co-growth).
Figure 5.
Effects of relay intercropping eggplant with garlic on the contents of available nitrogen (A), available phosphorus (B), and available potassium (C) in soil from September 2010 to November 2012.
Fig. 5 was drawn using the software program Sigmaplot 12 (Systat Software, Inc.). CK: eggplant monoculture; NG: eggplant relay intercropping with normal garlic cv. G110; GG: eggplant relay intercropping with green garlic cv. G064 Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Different letters above the bars indicate significant differences at a P<0.05 level (ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range test), n = 3. The capital letters from A to G behind dates in the X-axis represent different periods of crop cycles in the experiment: A represents five days before eggplant transplanted in spring (garlic-only); B represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in spring; C represents eggplant-only stage; D represents five days before green garlic planted (eggplant-only); E represents several days before normal garlic planted; F represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in autumn; G represents several days before eggplant uprooted (co-growth).
Figure 6.
Effects of relay intercropping eggplant with garlic on the soil pH from September 2010 to November 2012.
Fig. 6 was drawn using the software program Sigmaplot 12 (Systat Software, Inc.). CK: eggplant monoculture; NG: eggplant relay intercropping with normal garlic cv. G110; GG: eggplant relay intercropping with green garlic cv. G064 Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Different letters above the bars indicate significant differences at a P<0.05 level (ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range test), n = 3. The capital letters from A to G behind dates in the X-axis represent different periods of crop cycles in the experiment: A represents five days before eggplant transplanted in spring (garlic-only); B represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in spring; C represents eggplant-only stage; D represents five days before green garlic planted (eggplant-only); E represents several days before normal garlic planted; F represents eggplant/garlic co-growth stage in autumn; G represents several days before eggplant uprooted (co-growth).