Planting garlic in autumn is different from spring. Without knowing all the subtleties, you can lose a good harvest. In the article we will talk about the rules for planting garlic crops before winter. You will learn how to prepare the beds, what kind of soil winter garlic prefers, and how to improve its composition – all this will allow you to grow large heads with excellent taste.
Basic requirements
Garlic does not like soil that retains moisture, so do not choose a lowland for garlic plantations – the lower part will rot, and there is a big risk of being left without a crop. Choose a small hill for planting in the fall, but not a very open space so that the culture does not freeze slightly. Before winter, it is better to arrange the beds from north to south. It is desirable that the sunny side is not obstructed by vegetation or buildings – garlic loves a lot of light.
Based on this, do not choose a shaded area, it is important that the first spring rays warm the crops well. It is not recommended to plant garlic in the same area for several years in a row. For this culture, each time it is better to select the soil fresher, while the acidity indicator is an important point. Garlic is not a fan of oxidized soil.
Compliance with the rules of crop rotation will help save on the cost of preparing the soil for garlic crops. The best precursors of garlic are the following vegetables:
- beans;
- cabbage;
- pumpkin;
- zucchini;
- cucumbers.
Garlic will grow well after various bushy flowers and after strawberries. This berry crop leaves behind good soil, so if you decide to transplant it, be sure to plant garlic in its place. After the rest of the predecessors, the soil must be given time to rest, therefore it is recommended to harvest the entire crop by August, the garlic itself is planted no earlier than the end of October – the beginning of November. This requirement must be fulfilled – it is necessary so that the teeth do not germinate ahead of time from the fall. If this coin is still warm, move the planting dates yourself. When the cold snap comes, proceed to the formation of the beds, and the planting of the crop.
In each region, autumn, like other seasons, comes in different ways – proceed from the characteristics of the area where you live. Do not plant garlic after potato and tomato plantations, onion beds. There is a big risk for garlic to get sick from these vegetables with common diseases, the situation can worsen so much that even special preparations will not help to restore the plants later and save the crop. Garlic will not bear fruit even after carrots, eggplants, varieties of beets. Mustard perfectly enriches the earth, and if the rest of the predecessors need to be removed by August, then you can do the cleaning of this green manure later, before the very preparatory measures for planting garlic crops.
Mustard stabilizes the pH level in the soil.
Determination of acidity
Garlic before winter prefers non-oxidized soil composition. To reveal this indicator, you need to water the soil with a small amount of vinegar. If the substrate hisses, then everything is fine – there is a little acidity in it, and if there is no reaction to vinegar, then the oxidation of the soil goes off scale. Also pay attention to this fact: if there is a large amount of weed grass on the site, this indicates a strong acidity of the soil. In this case, it is deoxidized with the following compounds:
- fly ash;
- chalk;
- calcareous tufa;
- saltpeter (calcium);
- fluffy;
- dolomite.
If anti-acid measures are not taken, winter garlic will not feel comfortable in such an area. The fact is that this culture does not have such a developed root system, it constantly needs nutrients. So that top dressing is absorbed better, and the soil is deoxidized. So, dolomite flour perfectly copes with this task and helps the plant to better absorb organic and mineral fertilizers. It is better to apply dolomite in the summer at a rate of 0,5 kg per 1 square meter.
Soil deoxidation in this way is the most affordable and effective; dolomite is not a problem to buy in garden boutiques. There is no dolomite at hand, use ordinary ash. Both compositions do not harm the formation of fruits. The soil acidity indicator must be checked before each planting of garlic. Large-scale deoxidation is carried out every 5-7 years by introducing one of the alkaline elements. Sometimes crop rotation corrects the situation.
Prepare
Garlic prefers loose-textured soil. On loamy compositions, it will hardly grow. To improve this composition, prepare peat and sand in advance. To process 10 square meters, you will need 10 buckets of one and the other component. It is advisable to prepare the beds for winter garlic in advance. Experienced summer residents begin work in August: they plow, fertilize the ground, and carry out disinfection measures. It is better to let the soil rest for 1 year in the place of future garlic plantations.
If it is not possible to leave the site for recovery for a long period, be sure to decontaminate the soil to rid the soil of putrefactive bacteria formed during the growth of other crops in this place.
This is an important event, since garlic is a rather sensitive crop, and given that root crops are eaten, the importance of such preparation becomes even more relevant.
Disinfection
Soil disinfection is carried out as follows.
- Make a solution of copper sulfate by mixing 1 tablespoon of the composition in 10 liters of water.
- The area is treated for winter garlic at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 square meter.
- After the earth has dried out a little, the beds are covered with polyethylene or spunbond of a dense composition, and left under cover until planting.
Soil disinfection before planting winter garlic can be done with biological preparations. However, the process of death of harmful microorganisms from them is delayed – this must be taken into account and preparatory work should begin in advance.
In some cases, chemicals cannot be dispensed with, especially when it comes to severe lesions of the garlic precursor. In addition to copper sulfate, other means will help.
- “Fitosporin” – 5 g of the powder is dissolved in 10 liters of water, and the resulting solution is poured abundantly through the watering can on the area under the garlic. This treatment is carried out 3 weeks before planting the teeth.
- Agate-25K – 3 tablespoons of paste are dissolved in 10 liters and treated 10 square meters.
- Baikal EM-1 – 10 tablespoons are dissolved in a bucket of water and watered an area of 10 square meters.
It is advisable to start soil preparation 45 days before planting garlic. The soil needs to settle and stabilize after tillage so that the tines don’t go too deep during the growing season. The process of fertilizing is important.
Fertilizer
In the fall, potash and phosphorus compounds are primarily introduced to the place of future garlic plantations. Do this in advance when preparing the site and 14 days immediately before planting. Nitrogen is also needed, but it is not advisable to bring it in from autumn, because after winter it will be washed away by melt water. It is brought in after the first feathers have hatched in the spring. As the frosts pass, it is good to add ammonium nitrate to stimulate the root system and plant growth. The taste of garlic, the formation of heads depends on mineral dressings – if you want large cloves, pay due attention to fertilizer with mineral compounds, and do it right. Organic matter is also needed by the culture, it makes the soil exactly the one on which it is comfortable to grow garlic. But do not add fresh manure: it makes the structure of the teeth loose and tasteless, the heads themselves do not grow under such influence and give a small yield at the output. The manure must be overturned – the one that has lain for more than 4 years is suitable for feeding garlic. The rotted composition is mixed with humus and applied to the site.
It is even better to carry out such a procedure in this place for the precursors of garlic, and water the garlic plantings with manure infusion, prepared in a ratio of 6 to 1. When it is possible to leave the land under winter garlic for a year to “rest”, the fertilization procedure is simplified – in this case, it is enough to fertilize 3 kg of humus per square meter, add 200 g of lime or dolomite and 1 tablespoon of nitrogen and potassium. The clay composition of the soil is improved by adding sand, and the sandy composition, in turn, is improved by peat. Very poor soil is enriched with organic fertilizers with the addition of potassium salt and superphosphates. For 1 square meter – 7 kg of organic matter and 15 g of designated minerals. During the preparatory measures, fertilizers need to be dug up – the bayonet of the shovel should reach a depth of about 20 cm. And be sure to let the soil settle.
Properly prepared soil for winter garlic is the key not only to a good harvest, but also to create a basis for planting other crops in the future.
