Spring garlic is a popular garden crop, characterized by abundant yields and long-term storage. In order for the heads of the plant to ripen well, care must be taken to properly plant and care for it.
Deadlines
It is recommended to plant spring garlic in the middle of spring, when the frosts are gone and the soil warms up to +5 degrees Celsius.. The exact time for planting in open ground should be determined based on the conditions of the region in which it is planned to grow garlic.
For example, in warm regions of the country, it is possible to plant a summer crop already in mid-April, in Siberia – in mid-May.
Garlic roots actively grow at temperatures from +4 to +10 degrees, so it is not recommended to delay planting. At the same temperature, the leaves of the culture are formed. Untimely planting of garlic before winter or early spring can negatively affect the crop.
Site Selection
Spring garlic is a crop that is practically unable to grow in the shade. Therefore, when choosing a place, it is worth giving preference to sunny areas. It is also better to plant garlic in dry and light loam or sandy loam. The acidity of the soil should be neutral, if necessary, fertilizer will help to achieve the desired indicator.
Gardeners additionally recommend plant garlic in areas with a slight slope. Then excess moisture will flow down, and the risk that the plant will rot will disappear.
Before planting, the beds should be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate to prevent pest attacks.
Predecessors
Plants that were previously planted in the selected area have a special effect on crop yield. The best predecessors will be plants with a long root system. Gardeners advise planting garlic where they previously grew:
cereals;
pumpkin;
beans.
You can also plant garlic in place of herbs.
Neighborhood
The best solution would be to plant garlic near carrots. Both plants form a symbiosis, where one repels the carrot fly, and the second the onion fly. They will also make good neighbors. tomatoes. Garlic will protect them from whiteflies and spider mites, which, in turn, will prevent infection of the teeth with scab.
Prepare
Before you start planting garlic, you need to carefully prepare the soil and cloves. If you do not take care of the quality of the soil and seed, the harvest may turn out to be poor.
Planting material
Garlic is grown mainly with cloves, but it is possible to propagate with the help of bulbs at home. It is worth considering the first method in more detail.
Approximately 2 weeks before planting, it is recommended to put garlic in a special vegetable compartment provided in the refrigerator. If this is not done, the teeth will germinate slowly, which will delay the ripening of the crop.
The day before planting, the head must:
get out of the box;
disassemble into individual teeth;
calibrate by taking large and whole samples.
Medium and fine teeth can be used for cooking or planted separately at home in order to obtain a small amount of greenery. The next stage involves the processing of large teeth from pests and diseases. To do this, soak garlic in formulations that can be purchased at gardening stores.
And also the seed can be kept in a solution of potassium permanganate or salt, followed by rinsing with running water.
Finally, gardeners advise soaking the teeth in a growth stimulator for about half an hour or an hour for quick germination in the ground. Before planting, the teeth must be dried so that they do not rot.
Place
A place for planting spring garlic has been prepared since autumn in order to increase the fertility of the soil and achieve a bountiful harvest as a result. It is recommended to give preference to sunny areas where there are no drafts, and groundwater flows deeply.
Here are the main preparation steps.
The soil is carefully dug up.
Apply fertilizer in the form of compost. Additionally, lime is added if the acidity of the soil is increased.
They cover the soil with mulch made of straw, beet tops or carrots, peat.
The latter will protect the earth from cold winds and preserve its fertile properties.
Landing technology
You need to plant garlic according to the following scheme.
In the spring, the bed is no longer dug up. Only grooves are dug, the depth of which does not exceed 5 cm, the distance between the grooves should be 15-20 cm.
At the bottom of each groove, mustard cake is poured, to protect garlic from pests.
After the prepared teeth, soaked in potassium permanganate and a growth-stimulating solution, are placed on the bottom of the groove with the end down. It is not recommended to press them into the soil, so as not to damage the rudiments of the roots. The minimum distance between teeth should be 10 cm.
Sowing is covered with soil, The layer thickness should not exceed 2 cm.
In cool weather, it is recommended to additionally mulch the beds with hay or peat to conserve moisture and prevent the earth from crusting.
Care
To achieve high yields, it is necessary not only to plant garlic correctly, but also to take care of the proper care of the plant in accordance with the requirements of agricultural technology. It is worth considering in more detail what to do so that the garlic rises quickly and does not feel bad.
Watering
The plant is not particularly demanding on watering, but this does not mean that it does not need to be looked after. A large volume of water is required only in the first two months, when the active phase of garlic growth is underway. You can determine the lack of watering by the tips of the feathers. If they turn red, this is a clear sign that you need to increase the volume of fluid entering the soil.
When the garlic grows 6-7 feathers, and the bulb begins to form, it is necessary to reduce watering. In this case, an excessive amount of water will lead to the appearance of diseases and worms that can destroy the plant. Additionally, after each watering, the soil should be loosened to saturate it with oxygen.
Additional fertilizing
The first fertilizers are applied to the soil when the garlic is just emerging. The size of the bulb and the quality of the crop depend on the number of leaves that form closer to April-May.
At this stage, it is customary to use nitrogen compounds. Gardeners give preference to a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:10 or bird droppings, which are pre-infused. After two weeks, the plant needs to be fed a second time.
Toward the end of June or beginning of July, the plant begins to ripen. At this time, it is contraindicated to fertilize the earth with nitrogen, otherwise yellowing of the leaves can be achieved. Instead, they use ash or phosphorus-potassium compounds, which can be made independently or bought at a specialized store.
Fighting diseases and pests
Additional plant care involves treatment for pests and diseases. Far from always, the phytoncides contained in garlic are able to save the plant from insects and rot, due to which the crop is lost. Unwanted guests of garlic can be:
журчалки;
onion flies;
mole;
thrips;
stem nematodes;
root mites;
garlic mites.
In this case, it is recommended to treat the plant or soil with ammonium sulfate. If pests are found, damaged purple plants should be removed by carefully digging them out along with the roots to prevent the spread of insects.
Among the diseases that garlic can face, there are several ailments.
Black mold. It affects mainly heads of garlic during storage.
Fuzarioz. You can determine the presence of pathology by a yellowish-pink bloom on the leaves.
Yellow dwarfism. The causative virus prefers to settle in the heads of garlic. Often the leaves suffer from the disease.
Rust. Small spots form on the surface of the leaves, which gradually turn yellow, so it is not difficult to determine the disease.
The most likely causes of the disease are excess moisture in the soil or poor-quality seed. Basically, diseases manifest themselves in damp and cold summers or in the rainy season. And also garlic can get sick if the crop rotation rules are not followed.
If symptoms of bacterial or fungal diseases are detected, it is recommended to remove the affected plants, weeds, treat the land with special preparations in accordance with the instructions on the package. It should be noted that viral diseases are not treated. In this case, the plants must be removed from the garden as soon as possible and burned.
Additionally, you should take care of tying the leaves.. This is a mandatory procedure to increase the yield of garlic. The essence of tying is that in the end the nutrients go exclusively to the bulb, and not to the leaves.
They begin to set up mainly a couple of days before harvesting. Before this, you need to carefully weave the braid, and then make a knot at the end. At the same time, it is important to monitor the condition of the feathers so as not to break or damage them. The procedure is best performed with gloves.
Cleaning and storage
Harvesting usually begins in late August or early autumn. The exact timing can be determined by the appearance of the plant. If the garlic leaves turned yellow, began to gradually dry out and crumble, you can start collecting the heads.
Stages assembly.
The bulbs are carefully dug out of the ground, carefully shaken off and transferred to a dry, ventilated room. It is better to immediately lay out the heads in rows or hang them to let the plant dry completely.
When the leaves dry, they are cut at a distance of 4-5 cm from the bulb. Ripe heads are placed in cardboard boxes or cloth bags.
Garlic is transferred for further storage in a cool place. with normal humidity levels.
If the necessary conditions are met, the total shelf life of garlic will be 2 years. In this case, the heads will not lose their useful properties. Planting spring garlic will not take much time and effort, if you correctly approach the procedures for growing and caring for it. The result is a delicious and bountiful harvest.
