When planting garlic on his plot, every gardener wants the vegetable to be large. But not everyone knows how to achieve this.
Selection of planting material
First of all, it is very important to use high-quality planting material. A few days before disembarkation, the heads stored at home must be sorted out. All products with traces of rot or mold must be discarded. The remaining specimens must be clean and dry.
For planting, it is worth choosing bulbs with large slices of the same size. If the teeth are small or fused, they should not be planted. After all, this indicates the degeneration of the variety.
It is worth remembering that the quality of the crop depends on the varietal characteristics of the plant. To grow large garlic, you must use the planting material of the following varieties.
- Titanium. This is a popular variety of winter garlic. The teeth are covered with purple skin. The garlic itself is white. It is this vegetable that can be stored for a very long time. The yield is also pleasantly pleasing. You can collect a large amount of garlic even from a small area.
- Gulliver. This garlic is spring. Its color is grayish. The average weight of one head is 130 grams. At the same time, good gardeners can grow larger fruits.
- Orel. Such garlic is highly valued for its pleasant pungent taste and very good keeping quality. He’s not too big. But in one head there can be about 18-20 large cloves.
- Casablanca. This popular variety of garlic originated in Holland. Now it has spread all over the world. Garlic is highly valued for its large size and high yield. The weight of one medium bulb is 200 grams.
- Broad-leaved. The peculiarity of this garlic is its mild taste. The product is often used both in the process of preparing ordinary dishes and in their preservation. The average weight of garlic heads is 180 grams.
- Flavor. Spring garlic is not very large in size. But at the same time, it has an excellent shelf life. Harvested garlic can lie without spoiling for almost a year. At the same time, it almost never dries out.
In one area, you should not constantly grow the same variety of garlic. This will cause it to start to degenerate. Therefore, varieties are recommended to be changed from time to time.
Before planting, garlic is important to properly process. This process consists of the following steps.
- Disinfection. First you need to disinfect the garlic. To do this, it is placed in a container with a weak solution of copper sulfate. They leave it there for half an hour. Instead, you can use an infusion of wood ash. Garlic is dipped in it for an hour. The main thing is that the ashes used to process garlic are clean.
- Hardening. Spring garlic must be hardened before planting. To do this, he is sent to a cool place for a couple of days. This makes it more resistant to temperature extremes.
- Germination. Spring varieties of garlic are also germinated before planting. To do this, they are laid out in a moistened cloth bag. In this form, planting material is left in a cool place for two days.
Prepared garlic will be able to adapt to new conditions very quickly. Therefore, the process of its germination will not take much time.
Nuances of landing
In order for garlic to grow healthy and strong, the following points should be considered when planting it.
- Landing time. Winter garlic is recommended to be planted in late September or mid-October. In this case, before the onset of frost, he will have time to take root. Summer garlic is planted immediately after the snow melts. This usually happens in late March or early April. If the head does not form before the onset of heat, it will definitely not be large enough.
- Appropriate place. Garlic is a light-loving crop. Therefore, it should be planted in sunny areas. The area where garlic grows should be open. Before planting a crop, the soil must be deeply dug up. It should be light and fluffy. It is also important that there are no weeds left on the site.
- Landing scheme. When organizing beds, it is necessary to make wide aisles. The distance between individual teeth should be within 10 centimeters. In this case, it will be easy to care for the culture. In addition, garlic will have enough space for normal development.
- Crop rotation. It is very important to plant garlic after the right predecessors. It grows best in the area where green manure was previously located. In addition, it can be planted after cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, peas and pumpkins. But after nightshade crops and root crops, it is never planted. This leads to the development of various diseases, as well as to a decrease in the size of the heads. The best neighbors for garlic are tomatoes and peppers.
In spring, garlic is planted to a depth of 3-4 cm.. If the soil is still wet from melted snow, there is no need to water it. Otherwise, the site is irrigated 1-2 hours before planting. After planting garlic, the beds are mulched with peat. In autumn, it is important to take care that the garlic does not start to rot after planting. To do this, ash or sand must be poured into the grooves during disembarkation. The beds are not watered. To reduce the risk of freezing, garlic is planted to a depth of 5-6 centimeters. After planting, the holes are covered with earth, and then mulched with a dense layer of peat or rotted sawdust. Before snow falls, the area can be covered with spruce branches. After the snow melts, the shelter will need to be removed immediately.
Necessary care
In the future, the garlic planted on the site must be properly cared for. Agrotechnics of this culture consists of the following stages.
Watering
Garlic growing in the garden should be watered regularly. It is better to use warm water for this. So plants experience less stress. As a rule, rainwater is collected in large barrels and insisted. Irrigate the area with it in the evening. Plants should be watered every 1-2 weeks. Under no circumstances should overwatering be allowed. This will lead to the development of fungal diseases and spoilage of garlic.
You can save time on watering by covering the area with a layer of mulch. In this case, the beds do not have to loosen too often. Most often, the area with garlic is mulched with straw or sawdust.
Feeding
A very important role in the cultivation of large garlic is played by timely feeding. Winter plants need to be fertilized in the spring, immediately after the snow melts. Most often, urea is used for this purpose. If garlic grows on nutritious soil, one top dressing will be enough for it. Poor soils are fertilized 3-4 times per season. In the spring, fertilizing with a high nitrogen content is planted in the ground. In summer and autumn, products with phosphorus and potassium are used.
When growing spring garlic, top dressing is applied to the soil only twice a season. For the first time, fertilizers are applied in early spring. At this time, garlic is fed with organic fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. Thanks to this top dressing, he immediately goes to growth. In the middle of summer, the plants are fertilized with a solution of ash. This tool helps to make garlic cloves larger. In addition, it protects plants from pests and diseases. Ash can also be used in dry form. In this case, it is simply scattered on the site. The soil is then watered with warm water.
Do not apply too much fertilizer to the soil. An excess of nutrients negatively affects the yield.
Loosening and weeding
In order for garlic to grow quickly, the ground in the beds must be loosened regularly. In this case, water and minerals will flow faster to the roots of plants. In the process of loosening, it is also important to remove all weeds, because they take away some of the nutrients that garlic would need.
It is worth remembering that the roots of the plant are quite fragile, and after the garlic has released arrows, it cannot be loosened. Otherwise, it will quickly turn yellow.
Protection against diseases and pests
If the garlic beds are affected by diseases, you should not expect a good harvest. Therefore, you need to learn how to quickly deal with common diseases.
- Downy Mildew. As a result of the disease, the process of bulb ripening stops. If the plant is not cured in time, you should not count on a good harvest. To combat peronosporosis use any proven fungicides. If the disease has not yet affected the plants too much, the beds can be treated with whey diluted in a ratio of 1 to 10 with warm water.
- Bottom rot. This disease is characterized by the complete death of the root system. As a result, the bulbs begin to rot, and the foliage turns yellow. Similar signs and white rot. If the plant was affected by one of these diseases, it will no longer be possible to save it. Therefore, it is very important to control the quality of the products used for planting.
In addition, garlic is often affected by nematodes, onion moths and bears. Simple solutions with a strong repulsive odor will help protect the site from these pests. Usually, infusions based on nightshade tops or tobacco dust are used to control insects. If the culture has been severely affected by pests, store-bought insecticides should be used to control insects.
Useful tips and secrets of growing
Will help the novice gardener and the recommendations of more experienced people.
- To avoid problems with diseases or pests, before planting and garlic and it is recommended to decontaminate the soil. For this purpose, a weak solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate is used. It is also important to dig the earth well.
- When choosing a variety for planting, beginner gardeners can rely on the advice of neighbors or relatives. After all, different areas have their own characteristics of growing crops. So, for planting in cold regions, it is worth choosing varieties that are resistant to severe frosts. In a hot area, garlic is planted, which is not afraid of drought.
- Do not plant cloves too deep. In this case, he will spend a lot of energy trying to get up to the sun. Therefore, for the formation of large heads, he does not have enough nutrients.
- About a month before harvesting, the ground from the heads must be carefully raked. This will help redirect nutrients to the bulb. Thanks to this procedure, it will grow larger.
- Shooting is not allowed. Appearing arrows are important to remove even before they begin to twist. In this case, the plant will not spend energy on the formation of seeds. All nutrients will go to the bulb. This procedure helps to increase the yield by 20-30%.
If you follow these tips, you can grow really large and high-quality garlic in any area.
