Planting and caring for spring garlic

Spring garlic is a popular garden crop with abundant yields and long shelf life. In order for the plant heads to mature well, you need to take care of proper planting and caring for it.

It is recommended to plant spring garlic in the middle of spring, when the frosts leave 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.

Garlic roots grow actively at temperatures from +4 to +10 degrees, so it is not recommended to delay planting. At the same temperature, leaves of the culture are formed. Untimely planting of garlic before winter or early spring can negatively affect the harvest.

Spring garlic is a crop that is practically unable to grow in the shade. Therefore, when choosing a place, you should give 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, the desired indicator will help to achieve fertilization.

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.

Plants that were planted in the selected area earlier have a special effect on the yield of the crop. The best predecessors will be plants with a long root system. Gardeners advise planting garlic where it previously grew:

• cereals;

• pumpkin;

• legumes.

The best solution would be to plant garlic near the carrots. Both plants form a symbiosis, where one scares off the carrot fly, and the second - onion. Good Neighbors Will Also Become tomatoes... Garlic will protect them from whiteflies and spider mites, which in turn will prevent scabs from infesting the teeth.

Before you start planting garlic, you must carefully prepare the soil and cloves. If you do not take care of the quality of the soil and seed, the harvest can turn out to be poor.

Garlic is grown mainly with cloves, but the option of reproduction using bulbs at home is possible. The first method is worth considering in more detail.

It is recommended to put the garlic in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator about 2 weeks before planting. If this is not done, the teeth will germinate slowly, which will delay the maturation of the crop.

The day before planting, the head must:

1. get out of the box;

2. disassemble into separate cloves;

3. calibrate by taking large and whole samples.

Medium and fine teeth can be used for cooking or planted separately at home for a small amount of greenery. The next stage involves the treatment of large teeth from pests and diseases. To do this, you should soak the garlic in formulas 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.

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 the groundwater flows deep.

Here are the main preparation steps.

1. The soil is carefully dug up.

2. Fertilizers are applied in the form of compost. Lime is additionally added if the acidity of the soil is increased.

3. Cover the soil with mulch from straw, beet or carrot tops, peat.

The latter will protect the land from cold winds and preserve its fertile properties.

You need to plant garlic according to the following scheme.

1. In the spring, the garden is no longer dug up. Only the grooves are dug, the depth of which does not exceed 5 cm, the distance between the grooves should be 15-20 cm.

2. Mustard cake is poured at the bottom of each groove, to protect garlic from pests.

3. 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 the teeth should be 10 cm.

4. Sowing is covered with soil, the layer thickness should not exceed 2 cm.

To achieve high yields, it is necessary not only to plant the 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 taking a closer look at what to do so that the garlic sprouts quickly and does not feel bad.

The plant is not particularly demanding for 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 in progress. 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 ground.

When the garlic grows 6-7 feathers and the bulb begins to form, you need to reduce watering. In this case, an excessive volume 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.

The first fertilizers are applied to the soil when the garlic is just emerging. Bulb size and crop quality depend on the number of leaves that form closer to April-May.

At this stage, it is customary to use nitrogen formulations. Gardeners give preference to a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:10 or bird droppings, which are previously insisted. After two weeks, the plant needs to be fed a second time.

Towards the end of June or early July, the plant begins to ripen. At this time, fertilizing the soil with nitrogen is contraindicated, otherwise you can achieve yellowing of the leaves. Instead, they use ash or phosphorus-potassium compounds, which you can make yourself or buy in a specialized store.

Additional plant care involves treating pests and diseases. The phytoncides contained in garlic are far from being able to save the plant from insects and rot, due to which the harvest is lost. Unwanted guests of garlic can be:

• hoverflies;

• 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, the damaged purple plants should be removed by carefully digging them up along with the roots to prevent the spread of insects.

Among the diseases that garlic can deal with, several ailments are distinguished.

• Black mold. It mainly affects the head of garlic during storage.

• Fusarium... 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. Leaves often suffer from the disease.

• Rust... Small spots are formed 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 onset of the disease are excess moisture in the soil or poor-quality seed. Most diseases manifest themselves in damp and cold summers or during the rainy season. And also garlic can get sick if the rules of crop rotation are not followed.

If symptoms of bacterial or fungal diseases are found, it is recommended to remove the affected plants, weeds, treat the ground with special preparations in accordance with the instructions on the package. It should be noted that viral diseases are not cured. In this case, the plants must be removed from the garden as soon as possible and burned.

Additionally, you should take care of the tying of the leaves.... This is a must-have procedure for increasing 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.

Tying is started mainly a couple of days before harvesting. Before that, you need to carefully weave the braid, and then make a knot at the end. In this case, it is important to monitor the condition of the feathers so as not to break or damage them. The procedure is best done with gloves.

Harvesting is usually started in late August or early autumn. The exact timing can be determined by the appearance of the plant. If the leaves of the garlic turn yellow, gradually dry up and crumble, you can start collecting the heads.

Stages assemblies.

1. The bulbs are carefully dug out of the ground, carefully shaken off and transferred to a dry, ventilated room. It is better to immediately spread the heads in rows or hang them to allow the plant to dry completely.

2. When the leaves are dry, they are cut at a distance of 4-5 cm from the bulb. Ripe heads are placed in cardboard boxes or cloth bags.

3. Transfer the garlic to a cool place for further storage. with normal moisture 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 cultivation and care procedures. The result will be a delicious and bountiful harvest.