Experienced gardeners know that some crops are incompatible with each other. In this regard, they are not recommended to be grown on neighboring beds, as well as planted on plots after each other for the next year. Incompatibility affects the quantity and quality of the crop.
Can you plant garlic after garlic?
Garlic is unpretentious in care and maintenance. To get a good harvest, you need to choose a lighted area with neutral soil. In the process of growing garlic, only moderate watering and periodic weeding are required. During the season, you can loosen the soil 1-2 times. In order to grow vegetables in sufficient quantities and in good quality, it is recommended to observe crop rotation.
One of the main rules of scientifically based annual rotation is that crops belonging to the same family cannot be planted in the same place two years in a row.
Based on this rule, it is clear that it is impossible to place garlic after winter and ordinary garlic. If this rule is overlooked, then a good harvest should not be expected in the second year. There are several reasons for this. The first reason for the low yield is that garlic has already managed to take certain useful substances from the soil in the first year of cultivation. So, after growing a vegetable, the earth loses a lot of phosphorus and potassium. If the following year it was not possible to restore them, then a good harvest will no longer be obtained.
The second reason is pests. During the first year, garlic manages to attract pests to the soil, which are the source of some diseases for this crop. These pests include:
- onion fly;
- aphid;
- onion moth;
- stem nematode;
- four-legged tick;
- root mite;
- secretive proboscis.
If in the first year one or more of them were present in this area, then it is possible that pest larvae remained in the soil, which in the second year will become even more active than their predecessors and cause significant damage to the crop.
Best options
You can’t plant garlic after garlic. Inexperienced gardeners mistakenly believe that any other crops are suitable. But it is not. After garlic, only plants and vegetables of a certain category can be planted on the same piece of land.
green manure plants
In most regions, garlic harvest begins in July. The place from under it will be freed, and many gardeners are thinking what to do with it. In this case, green manure plants will be the best option for sowing. Their advantages are as follows:
- improve soil structure;
- saturate it with nitrogen;
- minimize the growth of weeds;
- protect from wind blowing and rain erosion.
There are many green manure plants that are planted on the site after garlic. These cultures include:
- cereals: wheat, rye, oats, millet;
- legumes: peas, beans, lentils, lupins and clover;
- cruciferous: mustard, rapeseed, colza.
You can also sow phacelia, which belongs to the Burachnikov family.
Agronomists strongly recommend periodically resting the soil by sowing it with green manure. Even if the site is small, it is possible to provide a recovery period in turn. Separately, it should be said about the simplest and most unpretentious green manure – mustard. After the harvest of garlic is harvested, the bed needs to be dug up, along the way, removing the weeds encountered. The soil is sprinkled with water. Mustard seeds must be sown in a chaotic manner, lightly sprinkled with earth. Within 10-14 days after planting, the first shoots will appear on the site.
Thick mustard greens look beautiful on the outside. It can be used in food, for example, added in small quantities when preparing salads. In autumn, in September or October (depending on the climate and weather conditions), mustard must be cut. Remove the tops to the compost pit to obtain humus, and plow the bed itself along with the roots. All this not only enriches, but also structures the soil. Mustard contains bioactive substances that have a negative effect on parasites such as wireworms and nematodes.
Vegetables
If you don’t want to plant the area vacated in the garden with green manure, then you should pay attention to vegetables. In August, it gets dark early and the sunrise comes later, so the so-called short daylight crops are most suitable for sowing. These include: radish, lettuce and arugula. Before planting, rotted compost must be introduced into the soil. This is necessary in order for the soil to receive nutrients. If everything is done correctly, then before the onset of the first cold weather, you can still get a full-fledged crop of radishes and herbs, which can also be used to make fresh salads.
As has been said, next year it is not recommended to plant garlic after garlic. The main contenders for this place should be the following vegetables: potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin, carrots and legumes. It is permissible to place tomatoes, beets and cabbage on the same site. A strict taboo is imposed on the sowing of any crops that belong to the Onion family.
Berries
During its stay in the garden, garlic releases phytoncides in large quantities. They are volatile biologically active substances that prevent the formation of rot. That is why agronomists recommend planting strawberries and strawberries after garlic. In this case, you can get a good harvest of berries due to the fact that they will be protected from rot for 1-2 seasons.
In order to plant strawberries in this place in the fall, just dig up the bed and remove the weeds. Next, you need to dig small holes, fertilize and plant strawberry bushes.
Decorative plants
Garlic is a good precursor for flowers. On the site you can plant asters, marigolds or zinnias. These ornamental plants are also maintenance-free. At the same time, if some pests (onion fly, aphid) have survived in the soil from last season, they will not attack the flowers and leave the site on their own. If next year it is planned to occupy this space for vegetables or berries, then it is recommended to plant annual ornamental plants. You can fill this bed with perennials, then for the next planting spring it will already be occupied. In order to plant permitted vegetables and other crops, it is recommended to pre-carry out preparatory measures for the beds. To create favorable conditions, you need to do the following:
- dig up the soil;
- if possible, remove all existing weeds;
- treat the selected area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe soil with fungicidal agents;
- apply fertilizer.
If there is confidence that there are pest larvae in the soil, then processing can be done. The best remedy for this purpose is a solution of copper sulphate. Preparing it is quite simple. You need to take a bucket of 20 liters, fill it with water and dissolve 200 grams of copper sulfate. The solution is enough to process 4 square meters. m. soil. Additionally, it is recommended to apply fertilizer. The most suitable are: urea, humus, rotted manure.
What can’t be planted?
For the successful organization of crop rotation on the site, it is not recommended to plant identical plants in the same place for two years in a row. So, after garlic, in no case should onions be planted, since both plants have common diseases. If the garlic was attacked by some kind of pest, then with a high degree of probability we can say that in the second year the onion will also hurt. Accordingly, the harvest will be reduced several times. In addition, it is not recommended to plant turnips, early varieties of cabbage. These cultivated plants will also feel uncomfortable.
It is noteworthy that garlic also cannot be planted in any area, since there are certain requirements for predecessors. Toit is strictly forbidden to place it in the area where onions were grown in the recent past. The fact is that the latter takes potassium from the soil, which is also necessary for garlic. These cultures have common diseases, so even the neighborhood is highly undesirable. Crops such as potatoes, cabbage, beets and carrots are not particularly pleasant predecessors.
The latter depletes the soil so much that next year it is recommended to sow this area only with green manure plants. Good predecessors for garlic will be: patissons, pumpkins, white and cauliflower, greens of all kinds, beans and peas. If you plant the vegetable in question in the garden after these vegetable crops, then the harvest with proper care will be good. This is possible due to the fact that these plants enrich the soil with essential substances.
It is noteworthy that the length of the roots of precursor vegetables plays an important role. So, if you plant garlic before winter, it will receive nutrients from the upper layers of the soil, so crops with long roots will be the best predecessors. Beginning summer residents often divide the garden into zones. For example, a certain area is allocated for garlic, which receives the uncomplicated name “garlic bed”. In no case should this be done, since the next year this soil will be depleted by the precursor garlic.
It is recommended to return garlic to its original place no earlier than after 6-7 years. This rule must be observed without fail, since existing pests can persist in the same area for up to 5 years. Neighborhood is important for garlic. If the most suitable predecessor was chosen, the crop is cared for in accordance with all the rules, but the harvest is still unimportant, then you should pay attention to the neighbors in the garden. Garlic itself actively fights fungal diseases, prevents the growth of spores, is a fungicide and insecticide. These properties allow it to fight most diseases and pests.
Carrots and garlic do not fit together as predecessors, but get along well in neighboring beds. So, the latter actively fights against carrot pests, for example: carrot fly or psyllid. Also good neighbors for garlic are all vegetables belonging to the Solanaceae family. This group includes: tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. They grow much better and are less susceptible to various kinds of diseases. Some gardeners prefer to plant garlic next to potatoes because it repels the Colorado potato beetle. Berries will become good neighbors: strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, currants and some others.
For to make sure that the crop rotation is correct, it is recommended to read the reviews of experienced gardeners. Most of them agree that it is not recommended to plant garlic after garlic and onions of any variety. This depletes the soil and also prevents a good harvest. Most of them, after harvesting the crop, plant the former garlic bed with green manure (preference is given to mustard) or herbs, for example: lettuce or dill. If you follow the basic rules of crop rotation, then you can not worry about a poor harvest of garlic. Also, during the entire period, you will not have to actively fight the pathogens of garlic diseases.
It is important to alternate the beds with each other, as well as to carry out the correct and timely care of the crops.
