Garlic is a fairly common crop; it is grown in almost every area. And no wonder – it is a storehouse of vitamins and a necessary ingredient in many canned vegetables and other dishes. Unfortunately, not everyone is familiar with the intricacies of garlic cultivation technology, and without this, you cannot get a quality crop.
In the article we will talk about how to grow garlic, about how this crop should be cared for, when to plant it and how to save it from pests.
Terms of planting
Winter garlic is planted in the fall with the arrival of the first cold weather, but so far the ground has not yet frozen. Specifically, by dates, it depends on the region and climatic conditions, but in general it is customary to plant winter varieties of garlic in early October – mid-November.
Spring plantings are, as a rule, plantings of spring varieties. Spring garlic produces more cloves that are suitable for canning. However, both types of garlic can be planted both in autumn and in spring, they are both used for seaming.
Planting methods for all garlic are also the same. Let us consider in more detail how this culture reproduces.
Ways of planting
The agricultural technology of spring and winter plantings is the same, but the technology is slightly different. Before winter, garlic is planted deeper – to a depth of 3-5 centimeters (sometimes 6-8 cm), and during spring planting, the seed is deepened by a centimeter less.
Now we will consider various techniques on how to germinate garlic (it is not practiced to propagate this crop with seedlings).
teeth
Usually garlic is not planted with a whole head (with the exception of single-toothed varieties), each clove is separated before planting. One clove – one planting material. The beds for this method are made 1-2 meters wide.
The teeth are planted from each other at a distance of 15 or even 20 centimeters. Depending on the season, they are deepened by 2-8 cm, and sprinkled with humus by about 1 cm on top. If this is a winter landing, then choose a head with larger teeth, each should weigh at least 4 g.
air bulbs
Air bulbs form on the arrows of garlic. Arrows are fired mainly from varieties of winter garlic, spring does not give an arrow. Bulbs of a well-developed plant are chosen for planting. They are planted before the onset of cold weather, using this year’s air bulbs.
The exact timing and planting technology are the same as when propagating winter garlic with cloves. Before deepening into the ground, it is recommended to soak the bulbs in an ash solution (use wood ash), they can withstand 10-12 hours.
Planted at a distance of 4-6 cm from each other and to a depth of 2-4 cm. Such plantings are mulched, the mulch layer should be within 2 cm. In the spring, such seedlings are looked after in the same way as for tooth plantings. In the first year, one-toothed garlic (sevok) will grow from the air bulb.
Sevok will be a good material for updating the variety. It is important to harvest such a crop in time; single-toothed bulbs have the property of self-deepening. As soon as the garlic leaves turned yellow and drooped down, it was time to harvest.
Small air bulbs will turn into standard garlic heads only after 2 years.
Sevkom
To get a large single-toothed head of garlic, a set (single-tooth bulb) is planted in April 15-20, and to grow regular heads, plant a set from autumn. This seed material also goes through the selection stage: the largest and most beautiful specimens are selected for planting.
For planting, beds are made at a distance of 20 cm from each other and one head is planted from the other at a distance of 10-12 cm. The entire preparatory part, the choice of location and the timing of planting are the same as when planting bulbs and cloves.
Care
Cultivation and care in the open field depends on the time of planting garlic. So, garlic planted in the ground before winter (the one on the head) needs to be mulched. The soil in the beds is covered with a thick layer of straw or leaves are collected from the garden and garden, they cover the place where garlic grows.
Such insulation will protect the seed material from sudden temperature changes and from freezing. By the way, they also mulch in the greenhouse, if it is unheated. In the spring, the mulch is removed and the sun has the opportunity to warm the earth with natural heat.
To properly grow garlic, you need to water and feed the crop on time. The secrets of cultivation and care for these positions will be considered in more detail below.
Watering
If the soil is not too dry, garlic is not so picky about water. One of the secrets just lies in this moment: the less moisture during watering, the richer the garlic flavor will be. That’s when you need to monitor the humidity, so this is during the active growth of green mass – this is approximately from May to mid-July.
During this time, you will need to water the garlic plantations at least 10 times. If the weather is rainy or with high humidity in the soil, watering is not recommended. Excess moisture can lead to rotting of the bulbs, yellowing of the foliage, or the development of various fungal diseases.
From the second half of summer, you can not water the garlic at all or simply reduce the amount of watering.
Additional fertilizing
During the growing season, you will have to feed the plant twice. For the first time, immediately after germination: for this, wood ash (2 cups) is dissolved in water (10-12 l) and the soil is cultivated. At the same time, fertilizing with a nitrogen composition is also allowed.
The second time they feed the garlic at the time of the formation of the bulbs. So that they are not small, it is necessary to fertilize the beds with mineral compounds. It is also necessary to scatter humus – all these activities contribute to the formation of large heads of garlic.
This culture and organic matter loves, so if there is fresh manure in the country, then you can make an infusion from it and water it. Just do not abuse such a fertilizer, especially if you have already fed it with a nitrogen composition.
Loosening
Garlic loves clean areas, and it also grows well in loose soil, so loosening is an integral part of caring for garlic plantations. It is recommended to loosen the ground after each watering, and if garlic is overcome by weeds, loosening can also be done – as a technique for cleaning the site.
Diseases and pests
Garlic is often overcome by fungal diseases. So, it can be affected by peronosporosis, rust, black moldy rot, white rot, black neck rot. Green and black mold will also attack garlic plantings if no preventive measures are taken.
Moreover, the defeat of fungal infections can occur even during the storage of seed material. If at least one fetus has picked up a fungus, infection of healthy heads will go very quickly. Dark spots appear on such bulbs, and they become lethargic.
In the future, such a head becomes empty. That is why it is so important to observe the storage conditions of the seed material – high temperature and humidity lead to the spread of the fungus. But a number of fungal diseases affect garlic right on the beds. Symptoms of such manifestations:
leaves turn yellow and dry from top to bottom;
a white coating forms at the base of the bush;
the plant gradually withers and may die.
As preventive measures, it is necessary to observe crop rotation, periodically renew the seed material, taking air bulbs for planting. If diseases nevertheless overtook the culture, it will be possible to cope with the help of fungicides.
There is a large selection of chemicals on the market for both seed dressing and fungal disease control.
Before use, read the composition and pay attention to the precautions when working with such products.
Whoever set a goal to grow an environmentally friendly product can try to protect the plant with folk remedies. So, you can treat garlic plantations with infusion of yarrow with calendula. Grind 50 g of greens and pour this green mass with 2 liters of boiling water.
Let the concentrate brew for a week, and before spraying, dilute it with 20 liters of water. If the soil is treated in this way before planting and during the period of active growth of greenery, then the development of white rot and other types of fungal diseases of garlic can be prevented.
Among the pests that love to attack garlic are the onion fly and other onion lovers, as well as root mites, etc. In fact, these are creatures that are not disgusted by the smell of garlic. In this case, to get rid of them, you will have to use insecticides.
Among the recommended chemical preparations against harmful insects are Neoron, Aktellik and other means. It is important to read the instructions for use before use. And you also need to take into account such a moment: if there are beehives nearby, insecticides will kill the bees.
From folk remedies against pests, shag is effective. An infusion is made from it with the addition of red hot pepper. To do this, 250 g of shag and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of pepper is poured with 2 liters of boiling water and insisted for 3 days. Then the resulting concentrate is filtered and diluted in 10 liters of water.
Add 30 g of any liquid soap to this solution and treat garlic beds from onion flies.
Harvesting
In order for garlic to keep well, it is important to remove it in a timely manner. How to determine the cleaning time:
the leaves turned yellow and even part of them dried up;
inflorescences cracked;
the scales on the heads became thin and fragile.
Depending on the region and weather conditions, garlic harvesting is organized from the beginning of July to the end of August. If you are late with the harvest, the bulbs will begin to disintegrate, the cloves will fall out of the nest, the presentation of the garlic will deteriorate, but most importantly – there is a risk of infection.
Early varieties are harvested 100 days after planting, the rest – after 120-140 days. It is recommended to collect garlic heads in dry weather. Garlic is dug with a pitchfork with thin sharp teeth – this way they are less damaged.
The earthen ball near the roots is not removed, the garlic is allowed to dry, and then it falls off quite easily. Garlic is dried for at least 2-3 days in open space, but the crop is not left under the scorching sun.
If it is not possible to leave it in the shade, then they cover it with a cloth or grass, but not with a film – this way it will get steamy. Collected and dried garlic is stored in different ways: in wooden boxes, in boxes, in bags, and suspended.
